Newsmax branded ‘incompetent hacks’ for using images of Iowa building collapse in Russia drone strike report

The far-right network Newsmax has come under fire for using images from a building collapse in Davenport, Iowa, in a report about a drone strike in Moscow, Russia.

The six-storey building partially collapsed on Sunday afternoon, with city officials now saying that they’re evaluating if further searches for survivors can safely be conducted as the building is at risk of toppling.

Five people are unaccounted for following the collapse, with Mayor Mike Matson saying on Tuesday that officials think two of them may still be in the building, according to CNN.

On Wednesday, Newsmax featured harrowing images of the collapse as host Greta Van Susteren delivered a report on a “disturbing” drone attack in Moscow, Russia, according to Media Matters. In doing so, the network could lead viewers to believe that the drone strike caused the destruction seen in the photo thousands of miles away.

The drone strike was the first to hit a civilian area in Russia since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“A new chapter unfolding in the Russia-Ukraine war, and it’s disturbing,” the host said on The Record with Greta Van Susteren. “This morning in Moscow, a city of 21 million people, there was a pre-dawn attack. Drones struck several buildings. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, five of eight drones were shot down, the three other drones had their systems jam, causing them to veer off course.”

“The mayor of Moscow says there have been no serious injuries reported. And the strikes caused light damage to residential buildings,” Ms Van Susteren added. “Russian President Vladimir Putin blames Ukraine for the strike, calling it a terrorist act. Ukraine denies any involvement and a Zelensky presidential advisor was quoted as saying, ‘of course, we are pleased to watch and predict an increase in the number of attacks. But of course, we had nothing to do with this’.”

In one of the images from Iowa, a “tow away” sign was in view, making it clear it wasn’t footage from Moscow, Mediaite noted.

Several images from Iowa were shown before the end of the segment when the actual images from Moscow were used.

The mistake prompted mockery from Twitter users.

Author Brian O’Sullivan tweeted: “Newsmax shows an apartment complex in Iowa while talking about drone attacks in Moscow. These are not serious people. Laughable, incompetent hacks.”

“This is crazy, and at first I thought it was a deep fake. But no, NewsMax and @greta did, in fact, use footage from Davenport, Iowa when covering drone strikes in Moscow. Such incompetence is startling, even for Newsmax,” one Twitter user said.

“How someone in @NEWSMAX control room or producer either missed this or purposely used this video from Iowa to talk about Russia drone strike…is beyond me. It’s idiotic & ridiculous from all of them there…this is one of many reasons why ppl don’t trust ‘cable’ news,” Brandon Lee Bryant wrote.