Rob Finnerty (born May 1, 1982) is an American television news anchor and host. He previously hosted the morning news/talk program ''Wake Up America'' on

Newsmax TV Newsmax TV is an American television channel owned by Newsmax described as conservative, right-wing, and far-right. The network primarily focuses on political opinion-based talk shows. It carries a news/talk format throughout the day and night ...

. In October 2024, Finnerty started hosting a nightly Newsmax

primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

show, ''Finnerty'', starting October 8. ''Finnerty'' airs at 8 pm ET, a timeslot previously occupied by

Eric Bolling Eric Thomas Bolling (; born March 2, 1963) is an American television personality, conservative political commentator, author, and financial commentator. He has occupied numerous roles as a commentator on financial issues for television, most no ...

before exiting Newsmax earlier in the year.

Early life and education

Finnerty was born in Massachusetts and attended

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...

in Connecticut.

Career

Finnerty worked for

WTSP WTSP (channel 10) is a television station licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of CBS. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on Gandy Boulevard on St. Petersburg's ...

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

as a morning news anchor. He also worked for one year at

KCTV KCTV (channel 5) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV (channel 62). The two stations share studios on Shawnee Mission Parkway in ...

in Kansas City and

KBAK-TV KBAK-TV (channel 29) is a television station in Bakersfield, California, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside low-power, Class A Fox affiliate KBFX-CD (channel 58). The two stations share stud ...

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He currently works at

Controversies

In November 2008, Finnerty was charged with homicide and operating under the influence after hitting and killing a pedestrian in Boston.(better source needed than this paywall) The homicide charges were ultimately dropped when Suffolk District Attorney dismissed the charge(better source needed than this paywall) when 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.(better source needed than this paywall) On May 10, 2021, Finnerty made national headlines when he confronted former Obama speechwriter David Litt for trying to insert Newsmax criticisms during an interview about

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

and

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

. 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 Mark Evan Halperin (born January 11, 1965)Mark Halperin. ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Biography In Context. is an American journalist, television cable host, political commentator and founder of the interactive medi ...

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 controversy when he complained that the

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old girls of various ethnicities, faiths, nationalities, and social classes throughout different time periods ...

doll company had gone "wokeified," because he couldn’t find a single doll that resembled his “cute little 6-year-old white girl" during a recent visit to the company’s flagship store in New York City's

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

. 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.

Personal life

He is married with two children – a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnerty, Rob 1982 births Living people Fairfield University alumni American political commentators Newsmax TV people