.jpg%3Ftrim%3D0%2C50%2C0%2C50%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
Newsmax mocks ‘terrified' Fox News for avoiding the Epstein story: ‘Don't want to p*ss off' Trump
Schmitt's mockery of the conservative cable giant comes as right-wing media continues to be thrown into chaos as Donald Trump is now ordering his 'boys' and 'gals' to move on from Epstein, which he claims is a Democratic-fueled 'hoax' and 'bullsh*t.'
The president added further fuel to the fire on Wednesday when he fumed that his 'PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullsh*t,' hook, line, and sinker,' adding that he doesn't 'want their support anymore!'
The MAGA meltdown, of course, was sparked last week after Trump's Justice Department concluded in a memo that Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial and did not maintain a 'client list' in order to blackmail prominent figures who took part in the disgraced financier's sex trafficking activities.
The memo, which refuted several Epstein-based conspiracy theories that Trump world had long fanned, came after Attorney General Pam Bondi previously claimed she had the long-fabled 'client list' on her desk. With many of Trump's most prominent supporters calling for Bondi's resignation or termination following her about-face, the president has publicly backed his attorney general while privately calling her MAGA media critics to tamp down the backlash.
Meanwhile, the president's plea this past weekend for his allies to stop talking about Epstein has resulted in mixed results across the conservative media landscape. Though many right-wing media influencers and networks continued to criticize and scrutinize the administration's decision not to release any further Epstein documents, Fox News dutifully fell right in line and appeared to take the president's demand literally.
On Monday, for instance, Epstein's name was only mentioned eight times on Fox News – with the first reference being made after the 6 p.m. ET hour. In comparison, the pro-Trump network brought up former President Joe Biden 158 times on the same day.
While the channel's chief political anchor has since noted that the 'Epstein Files Saga' does 'not go away here' during a Tuesday night report on Trump's attempts to dismiss the controversy, Fox News has still offered only slight coverage of the fallout over the memo.
During his Tuesday night Newsmax broadcast, Schmitt pointed out the growing rift in the conservative infotainment complex when it comes to appeasing the president or reacting to their increasingly irate audience's demand for the release of all the Epstein files.
'Pressure appears to be working. We're hearing things sounding pretty good. Again, this is what MAGA voters voted for — a government for the people where the rich and the powerful get the same justice as the rest of us,' Schmitt noted at the top of his program, referencing Trump grudgingly saying he'd be okay with Bondi releasing 'credible evidence' related to Epstein.
'You may have noticed the Epstein story was almost nowhere to be found, though, on Fox News these last couple of days, after months of very consistent coverage,' Schmitt, an ex-Fox News host himself, said of his former network. Indeed, the network's top stars had earlier this year relentlessly blamed a 'Deep State' conspiracy for Bondi's previous 'Phase One' Epstein flop before the president suddenly claimed the whole thing was a 'hoax' made up by Democrats.
The Newsmax anchor went on to note that Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who had been outspoken in his criticism of Bondi over the weekend, said on Monday that he was 'done talking about' Epstein and 'trusted his friends in the government,' only to backtrack the following day.
'So, it's pretty obvious that a lot of people don't really know what to do with this,' Schmitt stated. 'There's a lot of people that are very scared, because it's clear that the White House didn't want this to be a subject.'
He added: 'But Trump's base, his supporters and base care about it. And so there was a bit of a conflict there. And a lot of TV hosts are terrified of what to say and how to say it, because they don't want to lose their audience and they don't want to p*ss off the White House at the same time. So it becomes a bit of a catch-22.'
Schmitt also pointed out that Fox News star Laura Ingraham, who dove into the Epstein uproar during the TPUSA event over the weekend, 'basically went dark on the subject' during her weeknight show and mentioned 'it only with disdain for about two seconds.' In fact, Ingraham took a snarky swipe at 'conservative influencers eating their own' despite feeding into that backlash herself.
'That was it. And there was a little bit of it on Bret Baier's show Special Report,' Schmitt concluded. 'Otherwise, it was completely blacked out of the network that came from somewhere. Obviously, there's a pressure point, and it was hit.'
While Newsmax is taking shots at its higher-rated rival, the Trumpy network has its own potential conflicts of interest when it comes to covering the Epstein files.
Alex Acosta, the former prosecutor who negotiated the 2008 sweetheart deal with Epstein and later resigned as Trump's Secretary of Labor following renewed criticism following Epstein's 2019 arrest, currently sits on the board of Newsmax.
During a Tuesday night segment on his primetime show, Newsmax host Greg Kelly defended Acosta and claimed that the 'Epstein story was rebooted because they wanted to embarrass' him and the Trump administration over the plea deal.
'So, yeah, he did get a light deal, right? He didn't go to that much prison for fooling around with 15-year-old girls. He didn't. But he's not the only one who gets a sweetheart deal,' Kelly added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Incredible moment widow HUGS husband's hit & run killer & forgives him as he bursts into tears in court
THIS is the astonishing moment a woman embraces her husband's hit-and-run killer in court and tells him he is forgiven. Joseph Tillman, 24, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars after killing Charles Johnson in a hit-and-run. 6 6 6 Johnson was riding his bike on Towne Lake Parkway, Georgia at around 3:30pm on March 3 last year when he was fatally struck by a car. Charles - better known as Chuck - was rushed to hospital where he was treated for life-threatening injuries but tragically died a week later. Tillman later pleaded guilty to charges including homicide by vehicle, drinking under the influence, and reckless driving. Incredible footage taken in court shows the moment the 24-year-old breaks down in tears as the victim's wife, Regina Johnson, turns to embrace him. The two share a long hug, prompting tears among members of the courtroom, as Regina tell the young lad she forgives him. Tillman then whispered to Regina: "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," WSB-TV 2 reports. Watching on in disbelief, Cherokee County Superior Court Judge Tony Baker said: "I don't think I've ever seen the wife of a victim hug a defendant where they killed somebody." In an interview after the trial, Regina revealed she reached for her husband's killer because "God told her he needed a mom hug". "Joey needs healing of things in his past, as we all do. And that is our heart and prayer," she said. The 24-year-old had been drinking at a sports bar and had bought whippets of Galaxy Gas - a dangerous nitrous oxide drug - before getting behind the wheel and passing out. After hitting Johnson, Tillman evaded the scene and another driver, who was also present at the time, was initially charged with the hit-and-run. Johnson has been sentenced to two decades in prison where will have to complete a two year inpatient rehab program, which could lead to suspended prison time. Speaking in court, Tillman said: 'I've committed to the long road of making amends. I've entered rehab, embraced sobriety, began the hard, humbling work of healing. I know I do not deserve peace when I've caused so much pain.' While his defense lawyer, Paul Ghanouni, added: 'He's changed his way of life and seems like he's on a trajectory to continue to move forward with his life in a positive way.' Tributes have since poured in for Chuck who had a "joy for life" and could always be seen with a wide smile on his face. One grieving resident said: "He always had a smile, a joy for life, and always a big heart. "I spent many hours with him and his family, always feeling welcome. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you." While another added: "So sorry for Chuck to have had been involved in such a tragic accident. Our sympathy to the family and may Chuck rest in peace." A third, who remembered Chuck for his generosity, said: "Chuck was a friend whose love of life, Jesus, family, theological discussions with me in various places in the world, and and gentle honesty has immeasurably enriched my life." The 78-year-old was a valued member of his community - serving in various ministries and helping in the local women's shelter. He was married to Regina for 50 years and leaves behind his two adored sons and daughter, and five cherished granddaughters. 6 6
The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Confusion over the Alaska summit shows Vladimir Putin still calls the shots
In the five months since Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met at the Oval Office in late February, Ukrainian officials have worked hard to repair the damage of that day, which ended with the Ukrainian president being kicked out of the White House. With advice from European allies, Zelenskyy recalibrated his strategy for dealing with the Trump administration, and there was a feeling it was broadly going well. 'We managed to reset communications, to find a new language to work with Trump,' said one senior official in Kyiv a week ago. It has also seemed as if Trump's rhetoric was finally shifting as he termed Russia's bombing of Ukrainian cities 'disgusting' in recent weeks and set Vladimir Putin a deadline of last Friday to stop the war or face the imposition of crippling new sanctions. Then came envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow last Wednesday. Putin appears to have made no major concessions during the three-hour Kremlin meeting, and in return was rewarded not with debilitating sanctions but with an invitation to meet Trump in Alaska. The offer to thrash out a Ukrainian peace deal at a bilateral summit with Trump represents exactly the sort of great-power deal-making Putin has always craved. It will be his first trip to the United States since 2007, with the exception of visits to the UN. Exactly how the Alaska summit will look is still unclear, with a particularly Trumpian kind of confusion and chaos accompanying its announcement. Kyiv, European capitals and even Trump's own staff have been trying to understand what exactly was agreed in the Kremlin. The first announcements from the White House suggested Putin would meet Trump, followed by a three-way meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy. This was swiftly denied by Putin. As he put it, 'we are still far from creating the conditions' for a meeting with Zelenskyy. An aide denied that the Russian side had ever agreed to a three-way meeting. A White House source told the New York Post on Thursday that if Putin did not agree to meet Zelenskyy, the meeting with Trump would not go ahead. But a few hours later, Trump denied that: he was happy to meet Putin anyway. The back-and-forth gave the distinct impression, not for the first time, that in the relationship between Trump and Putin, it is the Russian president who calls the shots. Some administration officials later briefed US media outlets that they may invite Zelenskyy anyway, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said in a Sunday interview he 'hopes and assumes' that Zelenskyy will take part. For now, this does not seem likely. A senior White House official told NBC that Trump was 'open' to a trilateral summit, but was 'focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by president Putin'. As worrying for Kyiv as the planned format of the talks is the apparent Russian deal now on the table. The plan, as it has been reported after filtering through the Trump administration and then to European capitals, is that the Ukrainian army should unilaterally withdraw from the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk it still controls, which would presumably include the fortified military stronghold of Kramatorsk. In exchange, the Kremlin would agree to freeze the lines in other places. 'Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers,' Zelenskyy said over the weekend, adding that handing over land to Russia would violate the Ukrainian constitution. He said any deal done without Ukraine was destined to be 'stillborn'. Zelenskyy's public posture that Ukraine will never cede land is true up to a point. Kyiv is unlikely to renounce legal claims to its own territory, but the Ukrainian elite and much of Ukrainian society is increasingly ready for a deal that would recognise Russian de facto control, perhaps for a set period of time, in exchange for ending the fighting. The main problem with such a deal has always been what kind of guarantees Ukraine would receive that Russia would not simply use a ceasefire as time to regroup before attacking again. Brief discussions earlier this year about a European peacekeeping force to police a ceasefire were quickly scaled back to a 'reassurance force' stationed far from the frontlines. Ukrainians would therefore have not much to rely on but Putin's word, which they have learned from experience not to trust. Even still, there is a significant camp in the Ukrainian political and military elite who believe that, after more than three years of war, the situation has become so dire that the country is obliged to take such a deal, simply to allow for a pause in the fighting. The problem for Kyiv is the deal Putin apparently pitched to Witkoff is significantly worse than simply freezing the lines. 'As things stand, Ukraine and Europe are on the verge of being confronted with exactly the kind of Faustian deal they feared would emerge back in February,' Sam Greene, a professor at King's College London, wrote on X. Over the past few days, Zelenskyy and his team have been rallying support among European leaders and trying to put together an alternative, European plan. Unfortunately for Kyiv, previous experience suggests Trump is unwilling or unable to exert real pressure on Putin. 'If Putin and Trump reach an agreement directly, Europe will be faced with a fait accompli. Kyiv – even more so,' said Roman Alekhin, a Russian war blogger, on Sunday. It is exactly that prospect Ukraine's leadership will be doing their utmost to prevent in the days before Friday's summit.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Vance says Ukraine peace deal unlikely to satisfy either side
WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance said a negotiated settlement between Russia and Ukraine is unlikely to satisfy either side, and any peace deal will likely leave both Moscow and Kyiv "unhappy." He said the U.S. is aiming for a settlement both countries can accept. "It's not going to make anybody super happy. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it," he said in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump said Russia and Ukraine were close to a ceasefire deal that could end the three-and-a-half-year conflict, possibly requiring Ukraine to surrender significant territory. Zelenskiy, however, said Saturday that Ukraine cannot violate its constitution on territorial issues, adding, "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupiers." In the Fox News interview recorded on Friday, Vance said the United States was working to schedule talks between Putin, Zelenskiy, and Trump, but he did not think it would be productive for Putin to meet with Zelenskiy before speaking with Trump. "We're at a point now where we're trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that, around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict," he said.
