After weeks of refusing to acknowledge or accept the outcome of the 2020 election, President Donald Trump's "alternative facts" news networks are clearly struggling with how to proceed. But with the meeting of the Electoral College, the reality of President-elect Joe Biden's win is creeping in. Newsmax is finally reporting the truth about Biden becoming the next president of the United States, while One America News Network has a slightly different stance.
The Washington Post reported that, unlike Newsmax, the smaller OANN downplayed the Electoral College in its television coverage. Nevertheless, the network quietly shared a retweet acknowledging the vote.
That tweet read: "BREAKING: Joe Biden has cleared the 270-electoral-vote mark to formalize his presidential victory with California's 55 votes. (Per AP)"
However, their site continues to publish pieces suggesting that widespread voter fraud is the reason for Biden's victory despite having no evidence to support those claims. The allegations of fraud are supported by misinterpretations of the facts, misunderstandings of the law, special pleading, and some outright lies.
Both conservative networks have been the main television sources airing Trump's unfounded grievances and unproven claims of voter fraud. Fox News, which played a significant role in initially calling the election for Biden, alienated many of its viewers with the truth, even as much of its coverage gave excessive credence to Trump's fraud claims.
No matter how outlandish the claim, Newsmax and OANN have enthusiastically reported the president's claims and refused to accept the outcome of the election. In fact, they have even advocated for Trump's attempts to overturn the outcome of the election. Conservative attorneys Victoria Toensinga and Joseph diGenova said on Newsmax still believe there will be more avenues to argue Trump's points.
"There will be a lot discussed about this over the next 24 hours," diGenova said, the Post reported. Toensing chimed in as she added, "Maybe only on Newsmax."
However, it appears NewsMax is generally turning a corner. The Post reported that one of the outlet's anchors tried to break the news of Biden's win gently to its audience.
"What I'm trying to do is manage everyone's expectations," host John Bachman said. "These judges don't seem to be taking up these cases. This is the reality. This is the motion set in place."
Meanwhile, the Newsmax homepage now highlights Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) remarks acknowledging Biden's win.
"Many of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result," McConnell said of Biden's win. "But our system of government has the processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20. The Electoral College has spoken."
Like the conservative networks and McConnell, a number of other Republican lawmakers have finally conceded that Trump will not be re-elected for a second term. Sen. John Thune (R-S.C) also another top-ranking Republican senator, admitted that there comes a time when you just have to move forward. For him, the official vote on Monday was a breaking point.
"At some point, you have to face the music," said Thune. "Once the Electoral College settles the issue today, it's time for everybody to move on."