.jpg%3Ftrim%3D0%2C50%2C0%2C50%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
Fox News tosses softballs at Karoline Leavitt - right after Press Secretary bans sister outlet Wall Street Journal over Epstein bombshell
As has largely been the case since the president filed his $10 billion lawsuit against the WSJ , its parent company News Corp and its owner Rupert Murdoch over the story, Fox News – which is also owned by Murdoch – once again ignored the White House's vendetta against the right-wing network's 94-year-old founder.
Following Trump's concerted effort to dismiss the so-called Epstein files as a Democratic 'hoax' amid a MAGA uproar over his Justice Department concluding Epstein had no 'client list,' the WSJ published a much-anticipated report on Thursday evening detailing the president's once-close relationship with the dead sex offender.
The blockbuster story claimed Trump gave Epstein a 'bawdy' card for his 50th birthday that included a hand-drawn sketch of a naked woman with Trump's signature mimicking pubic hair. The report also claimed Trump wrote Epstein a personalized message that concluded: 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.'
Asserting that the sexually suggestive birthday card is a 'fake thing,' Trump – likely emboldened by CBS owner Paramount settling the 'meritless' 60 Minutes complaint – threatened legal action against the WSJ and his on-again/off-again friend Murdoch before filing a libel lawsuit on Friday afternoon.
The defendants 'failed to attach the letter, failed to attach the alleged drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained,' the president's lawsuit alleges. 'The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists,' the complaint adds.
Fox News – which enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the president and has helped staff his administration – has mostly steered clear of reporting on either the WSJ's scoop or the president's subsequent defamation lawsuit against the network's founder and owner.
So far, the WSJ's story has only been mentioned on a handful of Fox News programs – one of which is the Journal Editorial Report, a show co-produced by the WSJ. Fox News media host Howie Kurtz also devoted the opening segment of Sunday morning's MediaBuzz to the lawsuit and the eye-popping report.
On Monday afternoon, the White House followed up by removing reporters from the WSJ from the pool of journalists scheduled to cover the president's upcoming four-day trip to Scotland to tour his golf courses. Tarini Parti, a White House reporter for the WSJ, had been initially slated to serve as the print pooler for the final two days of the visit.
'As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,' Leavitt said in a statement. 'Due to the Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the [13] outlets on board. Every news organization in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.'
The latest action by the White House echoes its ban of Associated Press journalists from covering Oval Office events after the wire service said it would not refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America' following Trump's executive order renaming the body of water, citing editorial standards. Shortly after Trump took office, Leavitt took control of pool rotation assignments from the White House Correspondents' Association.
Appearing on Fox News' The Story moments after confirming that she had booted the WSJ from the travel pool, Leavitt didn't have to worry about being pressed by anchor Martha MacCallum to explain the latest move against the network's sister publication.
Despite the Trump administration going on the 'warpath' against Murdoch, MacCallum instead conducted a friendly and non-adversarial chat with the White House flack over the five-minute segment.
After devoting the first part of the conversation to the recent shooting of an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer in New York City, which featured Leavitt blaming the incident on the former Biden administration, MacCallum then brought up New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
'You know, Karoline, we have not heard from Mamdani – who is running for mayor in New York,' the anchor stated, wondering if Trump would endorse another candidate in the race because 'he's a New Yorker and he wants to keep the city safe.' Leavitt, meanwhile, took the opportunity to accuse Mamdani – who has quickly become a leftist boogeyman for the right – of standing for 'allowing illegal criminals and criminals of all kinds to run free.'
MacCallum, meanwhile, took the opportunity to get Leavitt's 'quick reaction' to something that is 'getting a lot of attention.' But rather than the continued fallout over the Epstein saga, the president's lawsuit and the White House's continued retribution against the WSJ, MacCallum instead wanted Leavitt to respond to Hunter Biden profanely blasting Democrats in a recent podcast appearance.
'Clearly, they've learned nothing from President Trump's overwhelming victory on November 5th,' Leavitt responded, leaning heavily on her tried-and-true talking points. 'The American people want deportations. They want secure borders. That's why we had the most successful six months of any administration!'
Adding that it was clear the younger Biden 'wanted to tear down anybody' who veers to the middle on immigration, MacCallum thanked Leavitt for her time before letting viewers know that she would be covering more about Hunter Biden's recent comments later in the program.
It would appear the message is clear to Trump world – Fox News isn't going to defend their colleagues at the WSJ or even stand up for their boss right now. Instead, they will just avoid this entire story while focusing energy on the distractions the president prefers they cover – such as Tulsi Gabbard's reigniting MAGA's long-standing obsession with jailing Barack Obama over the Trump-Russia probe, which the administration served up to Fox as an exclusive.
In the end, Trump-boosting Fox News host Mark Levin perhaps said it best this past weekend. 'We can't waste our time on Epstein, and other stuff that are going on here that some people want us to focus on,' Levin exclaimed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
Police descend on New York City skyscraper after police officer and three others killed in Manhattan shooting
A police officer and three other people have been killed following a shooting at a skyscraper in New York on Monday (28 July). Eyewitness footage taken from a nearby hotel shows NYPD officers entering the office building located in Midtown Manhattan. The gunman, who also died from a self-inflicted wound, was identified by police as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old from Las Vegas. Tamura is accused of walking into the lobby with an A4 assault rifle and 'spraying' ammunition inside, killing four including police officer Didarul Islam, a father of two whose wife is pregnant with a third child.


Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Putin's deadly response to Trump's new ultimatum: Russian bombs kill 20 including 16 in strike on a prison hours after Donald told Kremlin to end war in 10 days
At least 20 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in a series of overnight Russian missile strikes across Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday. It comes just hours after Donald Trump warned Vladimir Putin to end the war within ten days or face crippling new sanctions. The heaviest bombardment hit the Zaporizhzhia region, where eight strikes were carried out, including one that hit a prison, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the region's military administration. In a post on Telegram, he said: '16 people were killed, 35 were wounded. The premises were destroyed and nearby houses were damaged.' Missiles also rained down on the Dnipropetrovsk region, where several more people were killed and injured in multiple attacks, officials said. A strike on the city of Kamyanske killed two people, wounded five others and damaged a hospital, according to regional governor Sergiy Lysak. Another attack on the region's Synelnykivsky district left one person dead and several more wounded, he said. In a separate incident in Velykomykhaylivska on Monday night, 'a 75-year-old woman was killed. A 68-year-old man was wounded. A private house was damaged,' Lysak added in another Telegram post. In southern Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person, according to local authorities. 'A car was damaged on Ostrovsky Street. Unfortunately, the driver who was in it died,' said Yuri Slyusar, acting governor of the Rostov region. The attacks came as Ukrainian forces continue efforts to repel Russia's summer offensive, which has pushed into areas that have been largely spared since the early stages of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, blasted the strikes, saying it was 'another war crime' committed by Russia. Writing on X, he said: '(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's regime, which also issues threats against the United States through some of its mouthpieces, must face economic and military blows that strip it of the capacity to wage war.' Over the weekend, the Russian army announced it had 'liberated the settlement of Maliyevka' in the Dnipropetrovsk region, just weeks after it seized the first village in the area. The strikes followed remarks by former US President Donald Trump, who on Monday warned Moscow it had just days to bring the war to an end. He said Russia had 'about 10 or 12 days' to stop the conflict in Ukraine or face tough sanctions.


The Herald Scotland
30 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Security breach on Trump's Scotland visit sparks probe
President Trump departed Joint Base Andrews for Scotland on board Air Force One on Friday of last week. The Secret Service confirmed that it is investigating the incident. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said: 'The U.S. Secret Service is conducting a personnel investigation after an employee attempted to invite his spouse – a member of the United States Air Force – aboard a mission support flight. READ MORE Bagpipes, ballrooms and bluster: the day Trump came to Turnberry Donald Trump says he has 'alternative' plans for Gaza during visit to Scotland 'Scotland is a part of the world I want to thrive', says Donald Trump "The aircraft, operated by the U.S. Air Force, was being used by the Secret Service to transport personnel and equipment. 'Prior to the overseas departure, the employee was advised by supervisors that such action was prohibited, and the spouse was subsequently prevented from taking the flight. No Secret Service protectees were aboard and there was no impact to our overseas protective operation.' On the final day of his visit to Scotland on Tuesday, Trump will officially open his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. The US president's fifth day in Scotland follows a meeting and press conference with Sir Keir Starmer on Monday. Mr Trump will cut the ribbon on a second 18-hole course at his resort in Menie, Aberdeenshire before he flies back to the US on Air Force One. As they met at Turnberry for bilateral talks on trade and the situation in Gaza, Mr Trump and Sir Keir took part in what proved to be a lengthy press conference, with the president discussing a number of topics. The Republican Party leader spoke of his 'great love' for Scotland and said he wanted to see the nation 'thrive'. He returned to his long-running objections to wind turbines, branding them 'ugly monsters' and speaking of his admiration for North Sea oil and gas.