'Legal bribery!' MAGA influencers fume as right-wing pundit scores $150M Paramount deal

It isn't just liberals outraged over Paramount's decision to buy right-wing journalist Bari Weiss' Free Press for $150 million, Will Sommer wrote in his False Flag newsletter for The Bulwark — a lot of MAGA influencers also think the deal is ridiculous.

The deal, which comes as Weiss is set to be named editor-in-chief of CBS News under the Paramount umbrella, comes amid Weiss's long history of attempts to promote conservative representation in educated spaces, including her involvement in establishing a private liberal-arts school called the University of Austin that is still in the process of seeking accreditation.

Her new success isn't going over well with many Trump supporters, though, who think her venture isn't worth nearly as much as she got for it.

For one thing, noted Sommer, "Right-wing pundit Clint Russell of the 'Liberty Lockdown' YouTube channel griped on X that his own videos regularly outpace Weiss’s in terms of viewership, and he doesn’t even have a support staff. Russell groaned that the purchase was 'legal bribery.'"

Far-right Trump confidante and multiple-time failed congressional candidate Laura Loomer took it a step further, posting on X last month, "I have 1.8 million followers on X and have more impact in a single week with my reporting than Bari Weiss has all year with her work. And, I do it with no major funding. Totally insane how people are willing to light their money on fire ... This 'deal' should be examined with a microscope."

She went on to call Weiss the "Jewish Elizabeth Holmes" — referencing the infamous Theranos CEO who went to prison for defrauding investors with fake medical diagnostic technology.

Also disgruntled about the deal was right-wing podcaster Tim Pool, who posted, "They have 155k paying members for their site; They get 3.7m views per month; 15M annual revenue estimate; So maybe $50m-75m evaluation is reasonable. I don't understand $150M at all."

Paramount has meanwhile faced criticism from the mainstream news industry for the unusual amount of power they are granting Weiss, making her report directly to Trump-sympathetic Paramount CEO David Ellison, rather than the director of CBS News.