Fox News falls in line with Trump's Epstein plea — but will the rest of MAGA media comply?
Fox News has taken President Trump's plea for his allies to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein almost literally.
But many other conservative media influencers and outlets are still heavily scrutinizing the Trump administration's decision not to release further information related to the late convicted sex offender.
'The Jeffrey Epstein story isn't going anywhere,' Megyn Kelly told listeners on Tuesday, agreeing with her Monday guest Ben Shapiro's view that attorney general Pam Bondi should hold a press conference on the matter.
Even Charlie Kirk, who raised eyebrows Monday by saying 'I'm done talking about Epstein for the time being,' said Tuesday on his radio show that 'we're not moving on.'
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Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your inbox. Sounding defensive and practically shouting at times, Kirk repeatedly acknowledged the grassroots MAGA energy about Epstein. 'You are not letting this story go,' he said. 'I know that.'
Kirk reiterated his belief that his 'friends' in the administration, like FBI director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino, had digested the outrage over last week's joint Justice Department and FBI memo saying there was no evidence Epstein kept a 'client list' or was murdered in federal custody — both key claims of conspiracy theories that have long proliferated on the right.
The administration's 'just trust us' approach has offended many on the right. As a caller to Glenn Beck's radio show said Monday, 'I feel really betrayed and I feel really, really angry.'
Those emotions are also evident across right-wing social media sites, leading some of Trump's most loyal media figures to keep talking about the controversy.
It's an 'obvious giant fiasco,' InfoWars host Alex Jones said Tuesday as he expressed optimism that Trump will do a '180' and have the government release additional information.
Jones' guest, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, proceeded to speculate about Epstein's past ties to a foreign government. 'I really encourage everyone that continues to ask questions,' she said, adding, 'This has been the first fracture in MAGA, and we don't want this to happen anymore.'
Trump sought to quell the Epstein speculation with a Truth Social post on Saturday, sternly defending Bondi against criticism from his base and demanding his allies move on. Don't 'waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about,' he wrote.
Fox News hosts seemed to care last week; they were among those fanning the flames of the MAGA revolt.
But on Monday, there was a noticeable shift, with just one segment about the Epstein fallout all day long, during Bret Baier's 6 p.m. hour.
The 7 p.m. host, Laura Ingraham, did make one brief mention of the topic — in a snarky aside about 'conservative influencers eating their own.'
Ingraham, however, played a part in the turmoil last week. On Thursday, she critiqued the administration's lack of transparency, and on Friday, she goaded a Turning Point USA event crowd by asking whether they're 'satisfied' with the Epstein probe results. The room filled with boos.
According to SnapStream transcript searches, Fox has aired zero segments about the Epstein fallout on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Newsmax, which often jockeys with Fox for Trump's approval, mentioned the Epstein fallout at least 60 times on Monday, according to the transcript search, mostly to defend Trump while continuing to chide Bondi for not releasing the alleged files.
'The MAGA base either needs the full story or a damn good reason why they can't have it,' Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said in a lengthy monologue dedicated to the topic.
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