Fox News Apologizes, Says It Mistakenly Cropped Trump Out of Jeffrey Epstein Photo (UPDATE)
Fox News apparently cropped President Donald Trump out of a photograph with Jeffrey Epstein on Sunday, during the network’s coverage of the arrest of Ghislane Maxwell.
The edited photo aired on America’s News Headquarters while anchor Leland Vittert reported on Maxwell’s arrest and the charges against her in connection with Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex crimes. Vittert interviewed Jordan Merson, an attorney for several of Epstein’s accusers, and the network aired this photo of Maxwell and Epstein (and part of First Lady Melania Trump).
That photo was partially cropped when it aired on Fox. Here’s the full version:
Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
As you can see, the full version shows Maxwell and Epstein standing next to President Donald Trump and then Melania Knauss at Mar-a-Lago. The photo was taken in 2000, when the future president and first lady were dating.
Curiously, Fox decided to keep Melania in their edited photo even after cropping Trump out, leaving plenty of room on-screen next to Merson. While its not clear Trump saw this segment, the president blasted Fox News on Sunday for their weekend programming and polls showing him losing to 2020 rival Joe Biden.
With all of the wealth and influence Epstein wielded over the course of his life, Trump is one of many high-profile figures with ties to the disgraced financier and convicted pedophile who died in 2019. When Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime girlfriend, was arrested last week, the president’s son Eric Trump taunted the Clinton family by tweeting a photo of Maxwell attending Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. That tweet was eventually deleted after an avalanche of photos showing Epstein and Trump together were posted in response.
UPDATE – 11:10 a.m. EST: Fox News told Mediaite that the network “mistakenly eliminated” Trump from the photo. See the full statement below:
On Sunday, July 5, a report on Ghislaine Maxwell during FOX News Channel’s America’s News HQ mistakenly eliminated President Donald Trump from a photo alongside then Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell. We regret the error.
Watch above, via Fox News.
