Who would have guessed the Fox News’ reporting would get worse with Tucker Carlson on vacation?
Filling in on Thursday’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, who closed the prime-time hour with a photo showing the face of the judge who approved the FBI search on Mar-a-Lago cropped onto the body of deceased sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. In that picture, the judge appears to be flying on a private plane while having his feet massaged by former Epstein facilitator — and convicted felon — Ghislaine Maxwell.
Kilmeade could hardly compose himself as he prepared viewers for the scoop he was about to break.
“You won’t believe who he’s pictured getting cozy with — we’re gonna’ show you that next,” Kilmeade teased.
Following a short break, Kilmeade returned to show the badly altered photo of Judge Bruce Reinhart, supposedly flying high with Maxwell, enjoying a foot rub, along with a bag of cookies and a bottle of booze .
“This is the judge in charge of the, uh, of the uh, of the ah, as you know, of the warrant — and we’ll see if he’s going to release it next,” Kilmeade said in the lead-in to Fox host Sean Hannity’s program.
The photo included a tag with the credit to the site @What.I.Meme.To.Say.
“He likes Oreos and whiskey,” Kilmeade said on a split-screen with Hannity. “Sean, can you relate to that?”
Hannity awkwardly took the handoff from his colleague, with neither host indicating they were deliberately performing a comedy bit.
“I think that’s actually a picture of Jeffrey Epstein with somebody putting his head on there,” Hannity suggested. “I’m guessing, I don’t know.”
A seemingly clueless Kilmeade, said “It might be his plane, who knows?”
Hannity then left Kilmeade to deal with this issue on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” which he also hosts.
“I’ll let you determine that in the morning,” Hannity chuckled. “We’ll be watching.”
Media watchdog group Media Matters for America picked-up on the odd clip, which went viral Friday and went unaddressed until late in the afternoon when Kilmeade posted a tweet clarifying the image he’d posted “wasn’t real.” He added that he wants to “make clear that we were showing a meme in jest” as Twitter users wondered if the judge could sue Kilmeade for his supposed prank.
Media Matters reporter Matthew Gertz, who posted the footage, responded with an “lol.”
Throughout the week, Fox News’ prime-time lineup has expressed outrage that former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate was searched by federal agents said to have been in search of top-secret documents potentially impacting national security. Trump appeared often on “Fox & Friends” while he was in office.
