DID NEWSMAX TELL A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE TO PAY FOR COVERAGE?

Vivek Ramaswamy wants the GOP nomination for president.

Desperately.

He’s already got FOX “News” to kind of swing his way, showing up with regularity in various dayparts and being showered with gushing praise from many of the network’s hosts.

Chalk it up to Rupert Murdoch’s distaste for Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis’s amazing ability to make even tentative supporters loathe him the minute he opens his mouth.

Even Alex Jones is a fan: “He’s Alex Jones 2.0.”

But Ramaswamy seemingly can’t crack Newsmax.

Ramaswamy has been claiming that Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy told him in a phone conversation this summer that if he wanted to be visible on the network that makes FOX “News” look like PBS, he should buy more television ads.

Now that is the kind of quid pro quo one might expect from a small-town radio station or newspaper and even a few television stations we know about.

Ramaswamy complained that his few appearances on the network were confined to little-watched day parts and never on the big shows.

(Note to self: exactly how do you define a “little-watched day part” on a network is little-watched 24/7?)

Now Newsmax has vigorously pushed back on Ramaswamy’s claim.

Network spokesperson Bill Daddi said the notion “that Newsmax is asking candidates to advertise in order to ensure coverage as some quid pro quo … is categorically untrue and incorrect. Newsmax would take an assertion such as that very seriously. There is no correlation between advertising and editorial visibility for any candidate on Newsmax.”

Stop laughing.

If Daddi’s denial is true, how does that explain the regular presence of ANOTHER longshot GOP aspirant, Perry Johnson, on Newsmax?

Smells like “pay-to-play” to us.

Johnson, another wealthy guy who believes he is smart enough to be President, pays for political ads on Newsmax (a-HA!!!), appears as a candidate in occasional interviews on the network, and is the focus of “Backstage Pass,” a reality TV show airing on the network that chronicles his presidential campaign.

Well, at least he’s smart enough to know where to plunk down his money.

He’s polling in single digits in the GOP sweepstakes….behind even DeSantis and Ramaswamy.

Since Semafor first published Ramaswamy’s allegation, Newsmax has responded:

A lawyer for Newsmax said since that phone call, Ramaswamy has been invited on to Newsmax six times….and has turned down or canceled every one of them.

Ramaswamy hasn’t responded to that.