Newsmax journalist Rob Finnerty has apologised to Kenyans after facing a backlash over an on-air remark in which he compared New York City unfavourably with Nairobi, The Star, Kenya reports.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, Finnerty said he had made a mistake and expressed regret for comments that drew widespread anger on social media.
"I want to offer an apology to the people of Nairobi, Kenya. The passion you have for your city and homeland is amazing… We all make mistakes. I misspoke, and I am sorry to anyone I have offended," he said, according to The Star, Kenya.
Why it matters
The episode has fed a longer-running argument about how African cities are described by foreign broadcasters and commentators. According to The Star, Kenya, critics of such coverage say comparisons of this kind tend to entrench negative stereotypes about the continent rather than inform audiences.
The apology also lands in the middle of an active immigration debate in the United States, where claims about crime, street conditions and the character of American cities are regularly contested. A single remark by a cable news figure travelled quickly from a US studio to Kenyan social media, and then back again in the form of a public retraction.
For Kenyan audiences, the sticking point was not only the wording but the choice of Nairobi as the example. The Star, Kenya reports that the segment's interviewees did not include anyone who identified as Kenyan, which became a central plank of the criticism directed at Finnerty.
What Finnerty said on air
The controversy began with a Newsmax segment in which Finnerty discussed immigration, street conditions and delivery workers in New York City. He argued that immigration from developing countries during former US President Joe Biden's time in office had altered the character of some American cities.
"They move to blue sanctuary cities, and the cities then start to look more like Nairobi than New York City," Finnerty said during the broadcast, per The Star, Kenya.
He went on to claim that the media was not covering the changes he described adequately, and drew parallels with developments he said were visible in the United Kingdom and France.
The segment included interviews with people who identified themselves as coming from Guatemala, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mexico and Guinea. According to The Star, Kenya, none of those featured in the supplied clip said they were from Kenya or Nairobi — a detail that sharpened the reaction once the clip circulated.
The reaction in Kenya
Kenyans responded on social media by condemning the comparison, with some directing messages to Newsmax and to Finnerty's own accounts demanding that he apologise, The Star, Kenya reports.
Much of the criticism focused on why Nairobi had been singled out in a discussion about immigration and urban conditions in the United States, especially given that no one interviewed in the segment named Kenya as their country of origin.
The Star, Kenya reports that the remarks prompted fresh debate about the way African cities are portrayed in international media. Finnerty's apology, the outlet notes, comes as Kenyans have increasingly pushed back against foreign outlets and commentators over portrayals they regard as dismissive or inaccurate — both of Nairobi specifically and of the country more broadly.
Finnerty's statement did not dispute the substance of that criticism; he acknowledged an error and apologised to anyone he had offended.
What to watch next is whether Newsmax addresses the segment on air, and whether the exchange shifts how the outlet frames future discussions of immigration and foreign cities.
