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Laura Ingraham Abruptly Drops WSJ Report After Teasing Segment On Air
Laura Ingraham Abruptly Drops WSJ Report After Teasing Segment On Air

Yahoo

time3 days ago

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Laura Ingraham Abruptly Drops WSJ Report After Teasing Segment On Air

The Fox News host says she was going to discuss some "new news" — presumably the WSJ's report on Trump and Epstein — but never gets to it Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham teased her program would be talking about some 'new news' from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday night, following a commercial break. But when 'The Ingraham Angle' returned, the program did not cover anything regarding WSJ or their story on Donald Trump's racy birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein. 'Coming up, Democrats pretend to care about an issue that has the podcast world going crazy. We're asking for transparency,' Ingraham said heading into the commercial break. 'But we have new news coming on about this as well, from the Wall Street Journal. A new report tonight, next.' More from TheWrap Skydance Boss David Ellison Met With FCC Chairman in Bid to Finalize Paramount Merger Pete Buttigieg Makes Surprisingly Cheeky Barstool Sports Appearance to Present 'Lib of the Year' Award Laura Ingraham Abruptly Drops WSJ Report After Teasing Segment On Air Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers 'Shocked' by Colbert Cancellation: 'Thought I'd Ride This Out With Him for Years to Come' You can see that moment below: The story Ingraham was teasing, presumably, was the WSJ report, published Thursday, saying President Trump had contributed a tawdry entry in a leather-bound compilation of birthday messages for 'pal' Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. Less than an hour after the report was published, the president said the report was bogus and that he would be suing Rupert Murdoch, NewsCorp and the Wall Street over the report. 'The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,' Trump posted on Truth Social. 'Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so.' Trump followed that post up with another on Friday, saying he looked forward to having Murdoch testify in court over the WSJ report. Murdoch founded Fox News in 1996 and remains Chairman Emeritus of both Fox Corporation, the channel's parent company, and News Corp. Ingraham's mention of 'an issue' that has caused an uproar in the podcast world hinted at the irritation from many pro-MAGA influencers and creators over the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein story. Last week, the Justice Department and FBI said there was no incriminating Epstein client list to release or proof Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals. That answer upset many Trump supporters in conservative media. To point to a few examples, Tucker Carlson called out Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying 'you're not going to shout me down' for asking 'pretty reasonable questions' about Epstein. And The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh also said he will not drop the issue, even though the president would like conservative commentators to do so. 'I want to make this very clear to those on the right, including the president himself, who are telling us to just drop the subject and move on. We can't drop it,' Walsh said on his podcast. On Thursday night, President Trump said he had ordered Attorney General Bondi to 'produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.' He added 'This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!' The post Laura Ingraham Abruptly Drops WSJ Report After Teasing Segment On Air appeared first on TheWrap.

Why isn't Fox News covering the Wall Street Journal's bombshell scoop of the Trump-Epstein letter?
Why isn't Fox News covering the Wall Street Journal's bombshell scoop of the Trump-Epstein letter?

Yahoo

time6 days ago

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Why isn't Fox News covering the Wall Street Journal's bombshell scoop of the Trump-Epstein letter?

The political media world was thrown into chaos Thursday night when the Wall Street Journal published a bombshell story about a birthday letter Donald Trump apparently wrote to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prompting the president to sue the publication and Rupert Murdoch, the paper's owner and founder of Fox News. On Friday, the president filed a libel lawsuit against the right-wing media mogul and The Wall Street Journal's parent companies, News Corp and Dow Jones, following the newspaper's publication of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein. However, regular consumers of Fox News may be oblivious to this blockbuster report – that sparked outcry from MAGA supporters and seemingly prompted the president to ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'pertinent' grand jury testimony in the Epstein case – because the conservative cable giant has avoided mention of it. At the time of publication, based on a review of transcripts of Fox News' on-air coverage since the WSJ published the story, the network only once briefly hinted at the report on the president's alleged 'bawdy' card to Epstein in 2003. And in that instance, the host never delivered the promised segment about the story. Midway through her program on Thursday evening, Laura Ingraham groused that 'Democrats pretend to care about an issue that has the podcast world going crazy' before noting that they're 'asking for transparency.' At that point, she teased that 'we have new news coming on about this as well from The Wall Street Journal, a new report tonight.' However on returning from her commercial break, Ingraham only focused on criticizing Democrats for becoming fixated on Epstein and the Trump administration's memo earlier this month, which had concluded that the disgraced financier kept no 'client list' of high-profile figures and died by suicide. Fox News has avoided discussing the Wall Street Journal's blockbuster story about Donald Trump's alleged 'bawdy' birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein. ((AP Photo/Evan Vucci)) In the end, there was no 'new news' about the WSJ story – and that has been the case in the Fox News universe since. Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On the network's digital site, the only two Epstein-related stories that have been published since Thursday evening are both on Trump's directive to Bondi to work on releasing some portions of the Epstein grand jury transcripts. Both articles sidestep any mentions about the WSJ's eye-popping story. In the past 24 hours, the network's hosts and commentators have occasionally discussed the Epstein saga, but only to either boast of how a recent poll found that Trump is still massively popular with Republicans, despite the turmoil in MAGA world over the Epstein memo, or to report on the president's promise to release 'pertinent' grand jury testimony in the case. 'Donald Trump won seven swing states and the popular vote. His approval rating went up significantly in spite of the Epstein scandal talk going on and people anticipated his numbers would go down,' host and Trump confidant Sean Hannity declared on Friday morning's broadcast of Fox & Friends, the president's favorite morning show. It would be the only mention of Epstein during the entire three hours of the program. White House correspondent Peter Doocy would briefly point out during his on-air dispatches Friday that Trump had made a 'public call' for Bondi to move to release grand jury testimony, adding that the Justice Department's next step would be to assign a judge in New York to review the transcripts. Shannon Bream, the network's chief legal correspondent, also appeared for a segment to discuss the legal procedures required for the publication of grand jury testimony. Laura Ingraham briefly teased a segment about the Wall Street Journal's report — but never came back to it after a commercial break. (Fox News) The lack of Fox News coverage on a sister publication's big scoop probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise, considering the symbiotic relationship Fox News has with Trump and how the channel's programming has largely been tailored not to anger him. With the president declaring war on Fox News' owner, it was basically a given that the story would be ignored on the network's airwaves. 'I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper,' Trump blared on Truth Social Friday. 'That will be an interesting experience!!!' Rather than tempt fate and further inflame the president and his top loyalists by placing their anchors and pundits in the awkward position of defending the WSJ and their boss amid the MAGA pile-on, it appears the network has erred on the side of caution and won't touch it – at least for the time being. Of course, that's essentially been the network's modus operandi since the Epstein controversy blew up early last week, and particularly after the president first ordered his supporters to 'stop talking about' the deceased sex offender last weekend. The Monday after Trump's Truth Social tirade, the network only mentioned Epstein eight times on its airwaves. The network's avoidance of the Epstein saga has even led other right-wing outlets and personalities to mock Fox News for being 'terrified' of covering the story because they 'don't want to p*** off' Trump. Still, there are some Murdoch employees who are willing to bring up the WSJ story. Riley Gaines, the culture warrior who hosts a podcast for Murdoch-owned Outkick and regularly appears on Fox News, backed Trump's legal threats against the newspaper and her boss. 'Sue them into oblivion,' she tweeted Thursday night.

Don't Be Fooled: Donald Trump Got Absolutely Torched This Week
Don't Be Fooled: Donald Trump Got Absolutely Torched This Week

Yahoo

time6 days ago

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Don't Be Fooled: Donald Trump Got Absolutely Torched This Week

So this is the thing about stories like the Jeffrey Epstein saga: There's always new stuff waiting to come out. The explosive story that The Wall Street Journal dropped Thursday evening about Donald Trump's alleged note to Epstein in a 'birthday book' compiled for the child molester in 2003 by Ghislaine Maxwell was bound to come out. And if other things are out there about Trump's history with Epstein—as there almost certainly are—they're bound to become public someday, too. That's the first reason Trump needs to be worried. Even if his name does not appear on some master list created by Epstein with a heading like 'Good Friends of Mine Who Raped Underage Girls With Me,' it still has to be the case that there are emails, photographs, and other material that at the very least won't look good. (I couldn't help wondering what Maurene Comey, the sex crimes prosecutor in New York's Southern District who was fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, knows about Epstein and Trump.) And here's the second and more interesting reason. These cracks in the MAGA coalition right now are only that—cracks—but time may prove this week to have been a pivotal, even decisive, moment in MAGA history. On Monday, several voices in MAGA world (Charlie Kirk, Laura Ingraham, Megyn Kelly) were outraged over the administration declaring the Epstein matter closed. On Tuesday, a lot of those same voices said okay, nothing to see here, time to move on. Then, on Wednesday, they pivoted back to outrage, suggesting that on this one matter, social-media marching orders from Dear Leader could not staunch the blood flow. And Thursday night, the Journal story broke. We don't know yet what the impact of the Journal story will be in MAGA world, though it seems to be rallying some of his Epstein critics to his defense. So it might be that the story allows Trump to play victim and blame the fake news. Trump denies that he wrote the greeting and, as usual, has vowed to sue, which means he's suing none other than Rupert Murdoch, who quite interestingly—if Trump's Thursday night rant on Truth Social is to be believed—turned down the chance to use his power to kill the story. Or it might edge some to start coming to grips with the fact that their hero is not the valiant knight they imagined him to be. To a certain kind of person who consumes a certain kind of media, Trump is a sea-green incorruptible: the man who quite literally risks his life (the two assassination attempts) to slay the debauched and ossified dragons that have been perverting America for decades and keeping the decent God-fearing people of 'normal' American down. Now? As I said, we can't make any conclusions just yet. But this is the week the pixie dust didn't work. Maybe it's a one-time thing. On the other hand, maybe it's not. Before we get to all that, let's do a quick deconstruction of what the Journal reported. There was a drawing of a naked woman (and why the Journal hasn't posted an image of this thing is weird). Inside the drawing was a typewritten imagined dialogue between Trump and Epstein: Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything. Donald: Yes, there is, but I won't tell you what it is. Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is. Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey. Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it. Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that? Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you. Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret. Obviously, the key line here is Trump saying 'enigmas never age.' I have to say I give him credit for seeming to know what the word 'enigma' means. In fact, the use of 'enigma' is the one piece of evidence that suggests that maybe this wasn't Trump! But 'never age.' And Epstein replying that this fact was 'clear to me the last time I saw you.' That's clearly a reference to a specific event. If you want to believe it refers to that time they bought Girl Scout cookies together, be my guest. If this is a genuine article, well, it's very rare in this life that things like that card exist in isolation. The two were joined at the hip for 15 years. There will almost certainly be new explosions in the coming weeks. They probably won't emerge from the grand jury materials whose release Trump authorized in the wake of the Journal scoop. We can presume that material has been vetted to exculpate Trump. But maybe there were things that the grand jury didn't see. As The Washington Post noted Friday morning, 'the grand jury testimony would constitute only a fraction of the evidence amassed by federal authorities.' But back to that pixie dust. That's the story here. Every single thing Trump has done for 10 years—every outrage against decency, every crime, every incitement to violence, all the rest—have been justified in MAGA world because Trump was doing all these things for them. And he was supposed to blow the lid off this whole Epstein thing for them, too. Instead, he's covering up for himself. The order to Bondi about the grand jury material just looks like the kind of ass-covering bullshit move any politician would make. Members of the r/Conservative subreddit on Friday morning were definitely not appeased. Most of MAGA will continue to believe. Some people will need a photograph of Trump in flagrante delicto with a 12-year-old before they reconsider. And even then, they may insist the photo is fake. But others are already starting to question the whole enterprise. If Trump loses just 15 percent of his hard-core supporters, that's huge; electorally, it's potentially decisive. If we put his hard-shell supporters at 30 or 35 percent of the country, well, 15 percent of that is 4 or 5 percent. In a country this narrowly divided, that's a lot to lose—a lot of midterm voters who decide the hell with it, I'm staying home. And finally, let's not forget what this is about. Epstein did literally the sickest things a human being can do. Even if Trump didn't do them, if he was that close to Epstein for that long, there's roughly zero chance he didn't know something. Is that what supposed Christians want in a president of the United States? Some of them are already wondering. As other shoes drop, more will. This article first appeared in Fighting Words, a weekly TNR newsletter authored by editor Michael Tomasky. Sign up here.

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