In the aftermath of reports that the conservative media company Newsmax would comply with President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate, the company itself said that’s not quite true.
On Friday, Mediaite reported that it had obtained an internal email sent to Newsmax employees that indicated the company would not fight the Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule requiring every employer with more than 100 employees to have its workers vaccinated.
“To ensure that we are in compliance, we require that all vaccinated employees submit a copy of their vaccination card,” the email told Newsmax employees, Mediaite reported.
News of the corporate policy came as Newsmax host Steve Cortes was issuing blistering comments against a vaccine mandate.
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.
No one should be pressured to choose between medical privacy & their job.
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) November 6, 2021
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The company said Sunday it will not force vaccinations.
“Newsmax has no vaccine mandate nor do we require it for employment,” Newsmax wrote in an editorial on its website in which it called the rule “a dangerous overreach of federal power and opposed by Newsmax.”
The Newsmax editorial said that the company “informed our staff of the upcoming federal rule. At the same time, we have notified staff we will create an easy opt-out for any employee who does not want to be vaccinated.”
“Under the rule, any employee who is not vaccinated will be tested for COVID on a weekly basis,” the editorial continued, adding, “Newsmax is going beyond the OSHA rule to provide free weekly testing on its company premises.”
As noted by USA Today, the rule does not force employers to bear the cost of weekly testing, meaning that if they should wish, employers with more than 100 people could force unvaccinated workers to pay those costs themselves.
@KenPaxtonTX The testing option of the OSHA mandate stipulates that the employee is responsible for paying for the weekly COVD test. In many area COVD tests are $50+, which would be $200+ month. *Also, not free with insurance at doctors as person has to pay copay to get the test
— CovfefeForT (@MeBeHealthy) November 7, 2021
The editorial said the company will work with employees.
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“No Newsmax employee will be forced to receive the vaccine or be fired for not doing so,” the editorial said.
The balance of the editorial discusses the merits — or lack of same — concerning the mandate and the vaccine. It calls the OSHA rule “not good and probably illegal.”
“The Biden administration’s decision to implement an OSHA requirement is a dangerous overreach of federal power,” the editorial read, noting that states have been shepherding their populations through the pandemic, and there seems to be no need for federal intervention.
“Now the Biden administration is using authority intended for workplace safety to bypass the traditional governmental approach to health safety,” the editorial continued, adding that “by engaging in an unprecedented power grab, the Biden administration is taking its eye off the ball.”
The editorial states that the vaccine “which has been demonstrated to be safe and effective, is clearly playing a role” in the decline of COVID-19 deaths; however, it did point out that the vaccine is not the only contributing factor.
“While the vaccine works, so does natural immunity,” it read.
A LOT of fake news out there about @newsmax and the Vaccine. Well–here’s the TRUTH: no one at NEWSMAX will ever be forced get “the jab”—it’s a CHOICE!!! You can work at “The Max” if you’re unvaccinated!!!! (PS: @JoeBiden you SCREWED this up in EVERY) https://t.co/oAA4T5jqTj
— Greg Kelly–LET’S GO BRANDON! (@gregkellyusa) November 7, 2021
“At Newsmax, we do not ignore the science nor the facts,” it said.
“President Donald Trump provided the funding for the vaccine and cut through the red tape to see it implemented. And Trump himself has been vaccinated. Publicly, he has encouraged others to receive the vaccine,” the editorial stated, while noting that Trump recommended it, but did not force it on anyone.
“His approach is the right way. Government provides an opportunity, but an informed citizenry in a free nation should make its own health decisions,” the editorial concluded.