As Newsmax pushes on-air fundraising appeals for Rudy Giuliani's legal defense to its viewers, the conservative network also appears to be operating his donation website directly and collecting checks on behalf of the former New York mayor.
According to media watchdog Media Matters for America, the website that Newsmax anchors urge viewers to donate to, RudyFund.com, redirects to a Newsmax-hosted domain, which indicates that the network processes the actual donations the site receives. The website offers potential donors the opportunity to mail physical checks to a Florida P.O. box as well, and that address is listed on the Newsmax contact page as its mailing address.
The network's role in the management of the defense fund is not made clear on air with one host even thanking Newsmax "for allowing us to do this," a move that suggests a separation between the network's operations and the lawyer's fundraiser. Because of Newsmax's history of peddling scams to its audience in the form of health and finance newsletters, questionable nutritional supplements and more than 70 email lists, "it's worth asking what the network is getting out of the Rudy Giuliani Legal Defense Fund other than displaying more embarrassing public support for Trump and his cronies," Media Matters research Bobby Lewis writes.
Newsmax and other conservative networks began airing the fundraising appeals for Giuliani en masse late last month following his indictment in Georgia on multiple charges relating to former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. The network presents the charges as "political persecution" by a "far leftist" daughter of "a founder of the radical Black Panthers" meant to silence Giuliani, encouraging viewers to "support America's mayor" if they believe in the nation, and warning those who don't, "you may be next."
