Two Newsmax TV guests on "Newsmax Now" tussled over President Donald Trump, Russia, Paul Manafort, and former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Utah, on Tuesday night.
The opening segment of the program quickly got heated between former federal prosecutor Larry Klayman and Democratic strategist Joel Payne.
Klayman and Jeffrey Lord defended Trump and said Manafort, who briefly served as Trump's campaign chairman in 2016, is getting a raw deal in regards to his trial on tax evasion and other federal charges that kicked off Tuesday.
Payne was visibly frustrated with what he heard and replied by saying, "Paul Manafort was the chair of President Trump's campaign. And while he was doing that, it's very likely he was operating as an agent for a foreign government. That should be concerning to anybody, particularly the two gentlemen who you were speaking to earlier, Jeffrey and Larry."
Important: Newsmax TV is available on DirecTV Ch. 349, U-Verse 1220, DISH 216, and FiOS 615. If your cable operator does not have Newsmax TV just call and ask them to put us on – Call toll-free 1-844-500-6397 and we will connect you right away to your cable operator!
For more places to Find Newsmax TV – Click Here Now
Payne continued by saying he is frustrated with the fact Republicans are not looking at Manafort's role on the Trump campaign while he might have been working for the Ukrainian government, or at allegations Russia might have colluded with the Trump campaign.
"But instead, you guys want to talk about all the optics," Payne said. "All the things that work in Paul Manafort's favor. That's pretty disgusting to me."
Klayman immediately jumped in and said Payne's past work on Reid's staff disqualified what he said.
"Coming from someone who worked for Harry Reid, one of the most corrupt senators in American history, you can't take what he just said very seriously – with all due respect," Klayman said.
The rest of the exchange went as follows:
Payne: "Say it to Harry's face. You ain't got to say it to me. Go say it to Harry Reid's face. Crooked? Seriously? Seriously, Larry? Do you really want to do this? Because I'm happy to go word for word with you on this. Harry Reid's an honorable man who served this country very well. And by the way, he didn't have crooks working for him. You can take that back right now."
Host Rob Astorino: "If you want to talk about Harry Reid and honorable, think about what he did and said about Mitt Romney, which was completely false."
Payne: "You're damn right I'll talk about Harry Reid and honorable. I'll say it again."
Astorino was referring to Reid's Senate floor remark during the 2012 presidential campaign that Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, had not paid taxes in 10 years. That claim was false.
"Yeah, because we know Donald Trump has never leveled false charges against anybody," Payne said. "Never. Never, ever done that. I'm glad we've got a president with clean hands."
Later in the segment, Payne again took offense to Klayman and Lord's defense of Trump and the fact they paint Hillary Clinton and Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta as crooks.
"I wish I could exist in the fantasy world that you guys are living in," Payne said. "In your world, I look like Denzel Washington, and I weigh 100 pounds less. I mean seriously. You guys are ridiculous.
"You guys have created this dream world where Donald Trump is an angel, where Hillary Clinton is a crook, and where Paul Manafort is being wronged and Tony Podesta is getting off. I have no idea how you guys exist in this world."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.