NewsMax Guest Ambushes Host, No One Really Wins


For some reason, NewsMax booked former Obama speechwriter David Litt to come onto its morning show and discuss Elon Musk's live commercial/stunt/trainwreck from 30 Rock on Saturday night. Here's how that went.
Newsmax anchor: What happened on SNL?@davidlitt: "People made stuff up, then said it on television like it's true, and that actually happens pretty frequently on American TV. For example, in 2020 Dominion voting system sued Newsmax over its false claims about election fraud..." pic.twitter.com/ealyHGdGlM
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) May 10, 2021
Productive stuff. Although, perhaps more productive than arguing about whether a very bad episode of SNL is indicative of anything of any consequence in the first place. Litt clearly had the scripted line of attack locked and loaded and unfortunately that resulted in it feeling a bit forced. Wake Up America's Rob Finnerty took a bit to make sense of what was happening before mounting a pretty decent retort.
Here's the thing about stuff like this. I am going to be inclined to identify with the person going on NewsMax or a similar network and dunk on them. But at the same time, there's a social contract when you're invited to come on a show to discuss certain topics. As a guest you can absolutely veer off into the direction you want to take it. It's just that doing so turns the host immediately more sympathetic because it's an ambush and they're trying to decide in real-time if they want to drop the pretense of politeness.
In short, tough to pick sides here.