Why right-wing cable news is in the midst of an existential crisis
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On Wednesday, Newsmax the demented far-right channel seemingly modeled after North Korean newscasts was forced to air a groveling apology to Mike Lindell, the mustachioed martial law enthusiast and pillow salesman. Lindell, you see, had been rudely cut off by a Newsmax anchor the previous day while spouting insane conspiracies about voting machines switching votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Lindell’s interlocutor, anchor Bob Sellers concerned about legal threats from the manufacturer of those voting machines tried to get Lindell to talk about being suspended from Twitter, then read a lengthy prepared statement about how there was no evidence of fraud in the election. When Lindell attempted to keep talking about fraud, Sellers walked out. It was, all told, one of the funniest two minutes in the history of cable news, no small accomplishment.