Fox News has been slammed for sharing a doctored photo of the federal judge who signed off on the recent FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
In the news clip, Fox News aired a photo that replaced an old image of Jeffrey Epstein getting a foot massage from Ghislaine Maxwell with the body and face of the judge, the Guardian reported.
Here's how Brian Kilmeade teased showing a fake photo of Bruce Reinhart, the magistrate judge who signed the Mar-a-Lago warrant, with Ghislaine Maxwell: "You won't believe who he's pictured getting cozy with." Indeed! https://t.co/lZUThAs4wb pic.twitter.com/yncopOpjxF
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 12, 2022
On Thursday’s "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Kilmeade showed the fake image of Maxwell and Judge Bruce Reinhart. In the picture, Reinhart was seen holding a bottle of liquor and a pack of Oreo cookies while sitting across from Maxwell.
Interestingly, when Kilmeade handed over the show to Fox host Sean Hannity, he asked, “Sean, can you relate to that?”
Hannity replied, “I think that’s a picture of Jeffrey Epstein with somebody putting [the judge’s] head on there. I’m just guessing, I don’t know.”
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Kilmeade said, “It might be his plane; who knows?”
Hannity: "I think that's actually a picture of Jeffrey Epstein with somebody putting his head on there. I'm just guessing, I don't know."
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 12, 2022
Kilmeade: "It might be his plane, who knows?"
Hannity: "I'll let you determine that in the morning." pic.twitter.com/F7fnHof7Wr
Responses poured into Twitter after Fox News aired the show. Former lawmaker Denver Riggleman tweeted that Kilmeade should be fired.
.@Kilmeade should be fired—or at the least suspended. Along with whatever staff member “found” the photo.
— Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman) August 12, 2022
Should be followed by a public apology. Despicable stuff.
This is supposedly a news organization. https://t.co/ELfcbbP3Nh
On Friday, Kilmeade tweeted that the meme was “pulled from Twitter and wasn’t real”.
Last night while subbing for Tucker Carlson, we showed you an image of Judge Bruce Reinhart w/ Ghislaine Maxwell that was sourced on screen to a meme pulled from Twitter & wasn’t real. This depiction never took place & we wanted to make clear that we were showing a meme in jest.
— Brian Kilmeade (@kilmeade) August 12, 2022
In 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of helping recruit teenage girls for late financier Epstein to abuse. Epstein died in August 2019, Maxwell could be sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Photo: Courtesy of George W. Bush Presidential Center on flickr
