Former Trump adviser ousted from Newsmax after clash over company’s vaccine mandate

Newsmax host Steve Cortes, who served as an adviser to former President Donald Trump, is leaving the network six months after joining, according to a report from The Daily Beast published Friday.

Cortes, whose show airs at 9 p.m. ET, could leave by early next week, five sources told the outlet. The news comes after comments made by Cortes on vaccine mandates directly clashed with reports of a vaccine mandate at Newsmax.

Earlier this month Mediaite reported that Newsmax sent a companywide email announcing it was instituting a vaccine mandate for employees in order to comply with Biden administration rules. Shortly after the news broke, Cortes took to Twitter to lash out against mandates and insist he would not comply.

“I will not comply w/ any organization’s attempt to enforce Biden’s capricious & unscientific Medical Apartheid mandate. I will not be forced into the injection, nor will I disclose my vaccination status,” he wrote. “No one should be pressured to choose between medical privacy & their job.”

Sources told The Daily Beast the vaccine comments were just one reason the host’s relationship to the network has soured. The sources also cited his show’s ratings and his insistence on unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

One current Newsmax employee told the outlet Cortes is “a constant risk” because of a tendency to make controversial or inflammatory claims [Business Insider].