Ill be back tomorrow. Its hardtalk with stephen sackur. Welcome to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur. The Us Electoral College has spoken, even if outgoing President Donald Trump refuses to hear it. Joe biden categorically and conclusively won the white house and hell be moving in next month. So what now for the enraged incumbent and his most loyal associates . Well, my guest today is chris ruddy, ceo of newsmax, the right wing Media Organisation thats trying to outfox fox news by being trumpier than trump. Is post Trump America destined to be paralysed with division . Chris ruddy in new york, welcome to hardtalk. Great to be on with you, stephen. Thank you forjoining us. Simple first question donald trump has not yet conceded, but are you and is your newsmax network now prepared to acknowledge thatjoe biden did win the election, he is the president elect . Yes. And its been our consistent statement all along on Election Night when the president was in a very close contest, there were six states where the result was 1 or less, two of the states were half a percent, one of the states, georgia, was a quarter of a percent. We said that we should allow the president to contest these legally through recounts and other challenges he has been doing that that we would accept the state certifications in each case to declare the winner because the race was so close. And, you know, most of the media did this back in the 2000 election with al gore. In this case, theyjust decided they wanted to anointjoe biden. So we waited and we have been calling those states forjoe biden. And then on the Electoral College meeting on monday of this week, Whenjoe Biden won, we declared him the president elect because he officially was the president elect. So theres a media spin that somehow were trying to deny the election or, as you say, out trump trump. But i dont think anybody can out trump trump. But we certainly are sticking to the facts and weve been very consistent. Right, so are your presenters, who are not short of opinions, are they now making it clear to your viewers that when Donald Trump Tweets out that there is evidence pouring in of voter fraud, the country has never seen anything like it, are your presenters now indicating, as other news media groups are, including fox news and, of course, twitter with its labels, are you indicating that this donald trump claim is no longer valid . Well, we have decl. We have referred tojoe biden as of yesterday as the president elect, and he is the president elect of the United States. And we will continue to do that. So theres no problem with that. The president is continuing his legal challenges and we are covering that as a news story. Theres a strange phenomenon going on in American Media right now that, for instance, if newsmax said we were going to wait for the final recounts, that somehow we were denying the election result, that if we report on stories involving what the president and his lawyers are saying, that we shouldnt really even be doing that and that if we do, were. Were pushing conspiracy theories. There are no conspiracy theories that i know of that were pushing at all. Were covering this as straight news. And, stephen, the American People are responding. Newsmaxs app, which your viewers can download, but people all over the world can download, we have four million downloads of that app since election day. Its been an incredible experience. And then on cable news we are beating fox in some of our ratings. We just beat in the key demo one of their major shows on the evening time. So there is a phenomenon where people want straight news thats factually based and thats what were delivering. Yeah, well, its interesting. Your ratings have gone up the more you have included, in your line up of contributors, people like the attorney lin wood who, on your airwaves just a few days ago, said this if the Us Supreme Court does not act, and, of course, we know it didnt act in terms of helping mr trump legally, i think, said lin wood, i think the president should declare some extent of martial law. Now, that was on your airwaves. Youre going to tell me that its legitimate to have opinions like that on newsmax . Stephen, are you responsible for everything that people say on hardtalk or the bbc . I think very hard about who we bring on to hardtalk, who we give a platform to and what kind of messages. Lin wood. It sends. Lin wood is one of the most respected trial attorneys in the United States, hes famous as a lawyer. Hes been on all the other major networks. We had no idea he was going to make that statement. I believe that statement is wacko, its crazy, its possibly illegal, but its certainly inappropriate. No one at newsmax has ever called for that. So to suggest. For you to say, somebody said this and therefore youre promoting that, i think, is grossly unfair. And we have no history of ever. We have said consistently and i have said publicly that ifjoe biden wins the Electoral College, he is president elect and that newsmax will respect him as the president of the United States when he is inaugurated and as president elect. So theres no, you know. Its very unfair, i think, and unusualfor the bbc to be calling me out on something as silly as this. I dont want to be silly and i dont want to be unfair, butjust one more point about lin wood, who is a regular contributor on your airwaves. You say hes a top lawyer. He is also a man. Hes an occasional guest. Hes not. Hang on. Hes not a regular. Hes an occasional guest and hes been a lawyer and a plaintiff in this case. Hes appeared on other media. And i understand your point that he speaks for himself and you just put him on air occasionally. But let us address Something Else he said after that thing about martial law, he said, our leader is donald trump, not biden. And then he added this is in a tweet, nothing to do with newsmax, its in a tweet he said, make sure that you have plenty of water, food, flashlights, batteries, candles and Second Amendment supplies. Now, we all know the Second Amendment refers to the right to carry arms. That clearly means guns and ammunition. The reason i mention this and i want you to take it seriously is because one of your staffers, your White House Correspondent, emerald robinson, then tweeted back saying, lin wood tells people to prep and i listen. What do you make of that . Well, again, iam not. What she tweets is not out of the News Organisation of newsmax. Im not aware of that tweet. Maybe she was being facetious, i dont know. Ill have to ask her about it. Does it worry you . But its certainly not the editorial view of newsmax. Does it worry you that she appears on twitter. Lin woods been on f. Lin wood. Wait a minute. Stephen, lin woods been on fox news. Why dont you call them and ask them why they had him on . My point, if i may. Hes been on all the major networks. Call them and ask them why hes been on their network. My point is, as you said. Your point is youre trying to find some silly, stupid thing and you dont want to talk about the facts. And it has no relation to the very sincere and Good Journalism my people have been putting out at newsmax. Im simply trying to get to the mind set of members of your staff right now. And i put it to you one more time that you. What youre trying to do, stephen, is find. Youre trying to find a little stupid thing and blow it up and make it emblematic of my network. I mean, you started off by saying that were out trumping trump, which is not true. We criticise the president on the network. Were right wing. I wouldnt describe newsmax as. Were a conservative news channel. I would say fox news is more right wing than newsmax. You know, these type of things you keep saying, youre setting the stage to give the people of britain and around the world that newsmax is. Anybody can download our app and watch us and they can make their own judgment. They can look at our website, newsmax. Com, and make their own judgment about our content. You would acknowledge, i guess, that donald trump and his determination to fight this election result post election day, its been great for you. Youve already told me its been great for your ratings, its been great for your business, yes . Well, newsmax has been rising as we are a 20 year old business and we cover the news. So donald trump has been a phenomena for all News Organisations ever since he announced he was running. Even before that, he was all over the news. So i believe donald trump has been good for the news business. I dont think theres any question about it. You see, a lot of commentary in the United States on the rising ratings of newsmax has essentially concluded that you are a very canny media operator. You dont believe a lot of the stuff thats on your own network, but what you do believe is that there is a very commercially viable space to represent the die hard, ultra, trump supporting opinion that still exists in the United States, and thats what you have gone for, is that right . Well, thats, again, spin, because we did not accept immediatelyjoe biden because there were six states the president was legal contesting and there was no way of dealing with us other than saying that were cynical and were just out looking for ratings. The truth is, on Election Night, before any of this happened, we said we were going to wait on the six states the president was contesting. We would have made that decision, stephen, whether it was going to increase our ratings or whether it was going to lose us ratings. We did it because we thought it was proper and appropriate. I think other Media Organisations should have stood down and waited as well. Fox news on Election Night called arizona forjoe biden with 14 of the ballots. Only one other News Organisation did, and most waited a week or two before the ballots were counted. It was that close. I think we acted in an appropriate way and it was not done to boost profits or, you know. New york times went from one million paid subscribers to five million paid subscribers under donald trump. They made a lot of money on donald trump and covering donald trump from a negative perspective. Id like hardtalk and the bbc to do a story about all these people that profited big time by being very critical of the president. Right now, im really focused on you and your news network, and i am mindful that. I get that. While the election was unfolding and the post election was unfolding, america was also grappling with a terrible, terrible crisis, the Coronavirus Crisis the death toll now beyond 300,000. Im also looking at the way youve covered that. While youre prioritising trumps fight against the election result, youre also, in terms of the presenters and their opinions on your network, suggesting that there is something very strange about coronavirus. Two of your presenters have called it a scamdemic, and have explicitly linked it to a democratic plan to rig the election. Again, i ask you, when you hear that on your own network, do you intervene and tell them to stop . Can you give me the specifics . Because this is anybody that watches our Network Knows thats not the editorial point of view of our. If some individual that comes on the channel, like we talked about earlier, makes an opinion, thats not representative of everybody on the network. I dont know who youre talking about. Im talking. We have taken this virus very, very seriously. We have medical professionals of all sorts coming on day and night on newsmax talking about covid. Nobody has sought to downplay that. Nobody has said, that im aware of, that it was a political scheme. So, i dont know what youre talking about but maybe theres somebody that once said it in. Yeah, diamond and silk used the phrase china virus, they also used the phrase scamdemic, and they also, in recent days, when weve seen the surge. Right. Hang on the surge of cases in california, they have targeted the governors of new york and california saying, quote, these two governors of those two states are acting like tyranny dictators, acting like slave masters. I mean, these are quotes from your presenters. Well, as you know, and your audience doesnt know, diamond and silk are basically comedians, and they re political pundits that like to parody and make fun of anybody that watches them for 30 seconds, its a show we have on the weekend. Forgive me. You wouldnt quote somebody saying. Forgive me for interrupting, chris. Stephen. But in august, when you hired said diamond and silk, you said, quote, these two are on the cutting edge of political opinion on cable news today. Thats a direct quote from you when you hired these two, when theyd been let go by fox news. I think that they can have a lot. They were on fox news for many years, and as political pundits and people that are comedians, they can have cutting edge. People go to the comedy channel in the United States for news and analysis. Saturday night live is covering a lot of politics now, so we like to mix it up on the weekends. We have entertainers talking about news. Its infotainment and it works, and other channels do it, so i dont think theres anything wrong. I dont think and if they think that theres tyranny by the governors, you know, theres a lot of people believe some of the lockdowns are a little authoritarian, you know, new york state has had one of the most rigorous, rigorous lockdowns in the United States. Its effectively killed the city of new york. Theyre closing restaurants again here in the city of new york, and i think that when you consider that theyve had a mask rule and other things and nothing seems to work and they keep doing lockdowns, maybe the lockdowns are not the solution. Mr ruddy, i dont know whether you believe, like mr anthony fauci, who dr fauci who was on our show the other day, that america faces the most profound crisis. The only way out of it is to get the vaccine rolled out and to build public trust in the vaccine across the United States but another of your staffers, and i come back to emerald robinson, the White House Correspondent on your network, tweeted, saying the pfizer vaccine, which is currently being rolled out, quote, tampers with your dna. Now, that is absolutely, categorically untrue. What are you going to do about that . So, again, im not going to go through every tweet, and if you wanted to share those things with me before the programme, instead of ambushing me about these while im on the show, i would have happily looked into it and researched it. The editorial viewpoint on newsmax has always been supportive of vaccines. There are individual medical experts and others and a lot of individuals that dont like it. A lot of vaccines, have questions about them. Its a free country. Theyre certainly allowed to have their point of view. Our view is i take vaccines all my life and i have no problem with vaccines. I think they should be done in consultation with your doctor and following the rules that are set by your local state and health authorities. Thats always been the position of newsmax. Therell always be people that dont like vaccines. Maybe that includes emerald robinson, but its not, again, emblematic. I could go through the staff of the bbc and find people at the bbc that dont like vaccines and have tweeted about it. Do you think if i had you on newsmax, stephen, that it would be proper for me to spend five minutes talking aboutjoe shmoe or anne shmoe at the bbc that didnt like vaccines . Ithink. You dont have anything really critical to say about newsmax, you dont really have anything bad to say, so, you have to find some silly, stupid thing like this to try to show that somehow that newsmax is out of line or crazy, and its not representative of the facts. You can call these questions silly and stupid, but there is something really important going on in the United States. If you look at the latest gallup polling on trust, trust in the election, trust in the vaccine, there is a profound problem and, particularly when it comes to trust in the election, one recent Gallup Survey suggested 92 of Republican Voters believe there was a problem. Now, do you believe that your network is acting to build trust, or is it corrosive to trust in the United States today . We are pointing out serious irregularities that have happened, especially with the mail in ballots. There were states you have to remember, in the United States, we have, actually, 50 elections, theres 50 states, and each one of them has different rules, and some of the states made up the rules as they went along in violation, potentially, of the constitution and other laws about sending out ballots and how those ballots were gathered, how they were processed. I dont mean to interrupt you, mr ruddy. All of thats very important. Youve made a lot of important points about the election, but we are short of time, and i just want you to address the much bigger question about trust in america today. A lot of people are worried about fake news. Theyre not sure what to trust and what they cannot trust. Do you believe newsmax is enhancing and helping build trust, bringing the nation together or not . I think newsmax is one of the most trusted news sources in the United States. Do you . Do you really . A recent study found that 20 of americans watch us one even indicated that we had as much trust as the associated press, in a national survey, and we are giving people both sides of different issues so they get information that they can make informed decisions. I think, again, if you newsmax. Com or check out our app, youll be able to see that were giving balanced news presentations, both sides. That you dont get in the rest of the media. Let me ask you a couple of questions about donald trump playing upon your personal relationship with him. You are a friend of his. You talk to him very regularly. I know you do. What do you think donald trump is thinking and planning to do right now . He hasnt conceded. We dont even know if hes going to go to the inauguration but what do you think his strategy is . Well, i believe that he should respect the Electoral College and the fact thatjoe biden has the Electoral College. If he wants to engage in legal contests, he has that right as a us citizen, as a current president but i do think we have to respect the constitutional process. I hope, ultimately, he does that, but, you know, hes a guy that likes to make up his own mind on things. Hes very strong. Most people have, i think, advised him to accept the results, even if were not completely happy with those results, and i believe that he will be a media and Political Force when he leaves the white house. He will find that in many ways hes more influential than being in the white house, and i think people will continue to listen to him. Hell be certainly an influence in the republican party, and i think hes already setting the agenda for the Biden Administration. The picks that they are making and selections for the cabinet are far more conservative and moderate than people expected, and i think bidens going to be strong on china, and a number of the things that trump started as agenda items. You. You could offer him a job or at least you could perhaps join forces with him. There is much talk of donald trump wanting to be a major media player over the next four years, whether or not he still thinks hes got a political future. Is there something that you are cooking up with donald trump . Theres nothing being cooked up. Ive said publicly, and ill tell you, stephen, that wed be very happy to have donald trump on newsmax as a guest, as a contributor, as a weekend host but i dont believe that he wants to be aligned with any particular media. This is a guy that likes all media. Hes an omnivore when it comes to media. So i cant see him aligning with just one Media Organisation but we would certainly be happy to have him as part of as a voice within the larger voice of newsmax. Joe biden made a major speech, im sure you saw it, and he talked both about his. Well, he condemned donald trump for the way hes handled this post election period, but he made a point of saying that his absolute determination and commitment is to unify and heal america. So, im wondering, for you, chris ruddy, you have a choice to make when donald trump leaves that white house and biden takes over onjanuary 20th are you going to see that you can play a role in the healing and the bridge building, or is newsmax going to go after the Biden Administration . Well, ifind it very ironic, this question, because, forfour years, the media has not accepted donald trump as president. Congress 70 members of congress didnt show up at his inauguration. There was a sense in the beginning he was illegitimate. There were calls for his impeachment almost the entire four years, and youre asking me, will i accethoe biden . I never had a problem with ba rack 0bama. I mean, we disagreed on many issues, but i think i showed a lot of respect forjoe biden for barack 0bama and, as president , respected him in that office and did not do anything unusual in our coverage. We are going to cover the Biden Administration, ask a lot of tough questions, do the things thatjournalists are supposed to do, whether theres a democrat or republican in the white house. I thinkjoe biden is uniquely a very gifted guy in terms of bringing people together. He has a lot of friends on both sides of the aisle in washington. I think hell be a very positive force in the white house for bringing people together but were still going to ask him tough questions about his policies, and i think thats our job, and well do it. Chris ruddy, its been a pleasure having you on hardtalk. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you, stephen. Hello there. On wednesday, we saw a pretty deep area of low pressure sweep up from the south to bring rain and gales, particularly to western areas. Today, though, its looking a bit quieter. Were in between weather systems, so we should see a good deal of sunshine around. Itll stay quite breezy too, though, not quite as windy as it has been. So thats wednesdays low pushing away to the north of the uk. This feature will come in during thursday night. And in between, weve got a good slice of drier weather. Therell be a few showers around this morning, mind you, across southern and western areas, plenty of sunshine across eastern scotland, central and eastern england, areas here staying dry all day. 0ut west, well see further showers and the clouds will tend to build up here through the afternoon, and the outbreaks of rain will start to arrive across northern ireland, along with strengthening winds. Itll be quite fresh across northern and eastern areas, 9 10 celsius around average, but it will be turning quite milderfurther west as this band of rain and stronger winds starts to spread across the country as we head through thursday night. Followed by further areas of cloud and showers to the south and west, and itll be turning very mild across the south, lows overnight 12 13 celsius. And after a chilly start in the north, itll be turning milder there too. Now this is the pressure chart for friday and you can see were back to very unsettled weather, this active weather front with lots of isobars on the chart, meaning wet and windy weather moving our way. So well start off a little brightness across the north east england, northeast scotland, but generally a rather cloudy, misty, murky day with some patchy drizzle across the east, heavy rain across western areas, chances of flooding for southwest england and south wales, areas which have seen lots of rain already. And itll be a windy day, those gusts showing 30 a0 mph for many, particularly across southern and western coasts. With our winds coming in from the south, its going to be a very mild day for the time of year, highs of 13 15 celsius, for example, in parts of northeast wales. Low pressure sticks around as we head on into the weekend. Itll send bands of showers into the northern and western areas. But there will be some sunshine around too. Youll notice the mild air starts to get replaced with those bluer tinges, so itll be cooling down through the weekend. So a sunshine and showers weekend, most showers across western areas. And then, itll be cooling down, and thatll be particularly noticeable as we head through sunday. This is bbc news, my names mike embley with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. A court in france returns guilty verdicts in the trial 01 14 people accused of taking part in the Charlie Hebdo attacks in paris, nearly six years ago. Despite pressure from doctors and scientists, the uk is to allow the easing of coronavirus restrictions over christmas, but with a warning. A smaller christmas is going to bea a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas, and a shorter christmas, is a safer christmas. 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