News/Commentary

Matt Gaetz draws bigger audience than CNN while filling in for Newsmax TV’s Greg Kelly

May 31, 2023 | | Print Article

It’s a safe bet to suggest that U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has yet to meet a camera he did not like, but his recent stint filling in on Newsmax TV’s “Greg Kelly Reports” suggests that the camera likes him just as much — at least, the viewers do anyway.

While CNN may be a low bar for comparisons, it’s still impressive that the Gaetz-hosted show on Friday beat out the embattled network.

“You’re on the right channel. If you’re confused, your eyes are not failing you, and Greg Kelly did not suddenly get better hair,” Rep. Gaetz said on Friday, as the show came to air. “I’m Matt Gaetz. Thanks for joining us on ‘Greg Kelly Reports.’ Greg has the night off and I have the biggest stories driving Washington, D.C. right now.”

Gaetz’s entire opening monologue on Friday’s show can be seen below:

The Republican lawmaker was the only Newsmax host to win an hour against one of the three main networks, according to Mediaite. He beat CNN, which was airing an episode of “The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper,” with 282,000 total viewers to 249,000 total viewers.

CNN did manage to beat Newsmax in the key 25-54 age demographic with 41,000 viewers to 38,000, according to the website.

Fox News, which is still feeling the sting of its messy breakup with Tucker Carlson, led the hour with 106,000 demo viewers and 1.23 million total viewers.

Gaetz, who hosts his own podcast, also guest-hosted the Newsmax show on Monday night, but those numbers are not yet available, according to Mediaite. The congressman plugged Monday’s fill-in role while responding to a social media user:

Gaetz also took to Twitter to respond to the news that he beat out CNN: “Thank you to the team at Greg Kelly Reports and to the guests who brought forward key information regarding this bad Debt Limit Bill. It was a groundbreaking opportunity to showcase behind-the-scenes negotiations in real time! Thank you @NEWSMAX!”

Here’s a sampling of responses to the story from Twitter that run the gamut:

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

$10
$15
$25
$50
Other
$
Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Tom Tillison
Latest posts by Tom Tillison (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles