Former Trump campaign advisor Steve Cortes is reportedly leaving his role as prime-time host at Newmax after he refused to comply with the network's vaccine mandate and repeatedly criticized it on social media.
Cortes, who co-hosts Cortes & Pellegrino, a weeknight show with former White House correspondent for One America News Jenn Pellegrino, will be leaving the network in the upcoming days, The Daily Beast reported.
Cortes was hired just six months ago, but sources told the outlet that his relationship with the right-wing network had been largely strained by his relentless comments that the 2020 Presidential election was rigged, and Cortes & Pellegrino's floundering. His refusal to take the vaccine was seemingly the last straw.
The veteran news pundit had voiced on social media his discontent with Newsmax's requirement of proof of vaccination, which followed President Joe Biden's executive order forcing companies with 100 or more employees to obtain proof of vaccination from their workers or subject them to weekly testing and masking.
Cortes, a Trump loyalist, appeared to confirm news that he was leaving Newsmax by tweeting 'Do not comply!' just hours after the Daily Beast article was published.
Cortes was hired just six months ago, but sources told the outlet that his relationship with the right-wing network had been largely strained by his relentless comments that the 2020 Presidential election was rigged. Above, Cortes pictured with Trump
Former Trump campaign advisor Steve Cortes is reportedly leaving his role as prime-time host at Newmax after he refused to comply with the networks' vaccine mandate
Cortes had priorly taken to Twitter to share his pronounced anti-vaccine beliefs and disagreement with mandate
Cortes had taken to Twitter to share his pronounced anti-vaccine beliefs and disagreement with the 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,' he tweeted in early November, calling out Newsmax vaccine mandate, which requires employees to be fully vaccinated by January or submit to weekly testing.
After the Pfizer vaccine received emergency approval for children ages 5-12, he tweeted: 'This kind of propaganda is actually evil. Your children are not statistically at risk, and should not be pressured into a brand new treatment. Do Not Comply!'
Cortes also cast doubt on the efficacy of the vaccine, arguing that the drop in effectiveness was reason enough to avoid vaccination.
'Massive declines in the efficacy of the vaccines over time. Johnson & Johnson version down to only 13% effective, Moderna slides to only 45%. No one should EVER be compelled to take these treatments, especially not children. Do Not Comply!' he wrote on Twitter.
Cortes, who co-hosts Cortes & Pellegrino, a weeknight show with former White House correspondent for One America News Jenn
