Rob Finnerty
Rob Finnerty | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Finnerty in an interview with President Donald Trump at the White House, August 2025 | |
| Born | May 1, 1982 (age 44) Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Fairfield University |
| Occupation | News host |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Television | Newsmax News Host (2021–present) WTSP 10 Tampa Bay Morning Anchor (2017–2020) KCTV Kansas City (2016–2017) KBAK Bakersfield NECN New England Cable News |
Rob Finnerty (born May 1, 1982) is an American television news anchor and host. He hosted the morning news/talk program Wake Up America on Newsmax TV. On October 8, 2024, he started hosting a nightly Newsmax primetime show, Finnerty. Finnerty airs at 8 pm ET, a timeslot previously occupied by Eric Bolling before exiting Newsmax earlier in 2024.
Background
Finnerty was born in Massachusetts and attended Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He was a morning news anchor at WTSP in Tampa Bay. He also worked for a year at KCTV in Kansas City, Missouri and KBAK-TV in Bakersfield, California. He [when?] works at Newsmax TV.
Controversies
In November 2008, Finnerty was charged with homicide and operating under the influence after hitting and killing a pedestrian in Boston. The homicide charges were eventually dropped. The Suffolk District Attorney dismissed the charge after a collision analysis report showed there was no way any driver–impaired or sober–could have avoided striking the pedestrian when he stepped into the street. Finnerty pleaded guilty to OUI in November 2009. On May 10, 2021, he made national headlines when he confronted former Obama speechwriter David Litt for trying to insert Newsmax criticisms during an interview about Elon Musk and Saturday Night Live.
On April 1, 2022, Finnerty interrupted his show with the false breaking news that "Russia has apparently surrendered" to Ukraine, then asking unaware guest Mark Halperin for his thoughts. When Halperin began to respond, Finnerty cut him off "to gleefully say that the whole thing was a prank" and mock Halperin for falling for it, upsetting fellow Newsmax employees behind the scenes, according to several news outlets.
On December 12, 2022, Finnerty stirred up controversy when he complained that the American Girl doll company had become "wokeified," because he couldn’t find a single doll which resembled his “cute little 6-year-old white girl" during a recent visit to the company's flagship store in Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York. However, multiple observers and journalists subsequently identified numerous white dolls prominently displayed in the same Rockefeller Center store, as well as dozens on the company's website.
On October 2026 Finnerty was forced to apologize to Kenyans after commenting badly about Nairobi. Kenyans on X made him do it live on TV.
Personal life
Finnerty is married with two children, a son and a daughter.
References
- 1 2 Roa, Ray (December 8, 2020). "Former Tampa Bay news anchor Rob Finnerty now works for Trump's favorite channel Newsmax". Creative Loafing.
- ↑ "Newsmax Tabs Rob Finnerty to Host New Primetime Program". barretmedia.com. October 2, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
- 1 2 "Rob Finnerty Bio". Fact Profiles. February 19, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
- ↑ Heslam, Jessica (November 18, 2008). "WEEI Guy Charged in Fatal Crash". Boston Herald.
- ↑ Herald, David L; Smith, Erin (November 18, 2018). "Man killed by drunk driver was walking home from work at Stop and Shop".
- 1 2 Heslam, Jessica (November 6, 2009). "Homicide Rap Dropped in Fatal OUI". Boston Herald.
- ↑ "Ex-Obama speechwriter confronts Newsmax host over false election claims". Yahoo. Axios. May 10, 2021.
- ↑ Falzone, Diana (April 9, 2022). "Newsmax 'Furious' Over Anchor's 'Embarrassing' April Fools' Joke About Russia". Daily Beast.
- ↑ Getahun, Hannah (April 9, 2022). "Newsmax employees are furious after an anchor falsely said on air that Russia surrendered to Ukraine as part of an April Fools' prank, report says". Insider. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
- ↑ "Newsmax Host Loses It Over "Wokeified" American Girl Dolls". YouTube. December 15, 2022.
- ↑ "MannyFidel fact-checks a Newsmax anchor who claimed he couldn't find a white doll at the American Girl store in New York City". MSNBC on TikTok. December 14, 2022.
- ↑ Ramírez de Arellano, Susanne (December 15, 2022). "What a Newsmax host's fake outrage over an American Girl doll tells us". NBC News.
- ↑ "Rob Finnerty (@RobFinnertyUSA) on X". X (formerly Twitter). October 13, 2026. Retrieved October 15, 2026.