Fox News is the defendant in another defamation lawsuit, and CNN anchor Jake Tapper believes it is warranted.
Arizona resident Ray Epps is alleging his life has been uprooted after reporting from Fox News, and specifically former network host Tucker Carlson, labeled him a federal informant working for the FBI to encourage rioters at the January 6th Insurrection to enter the Capitol and cause damage after the 2020 presidential election was won by Joe Biden. Epps has continually denied working for any federal agency, and claims he was forced to sell his home and live in an RV to avoid persecution due to the reports from Fox News and Carlson.
At the conclusion of CNN News Central Thursday, Tapper — who was about to interview an attorney for Epps — was asked by anchor Jim Sciutto where he would take the interview. Tapper then shared his feelings on the way Fox News handled its coverage of Epps.
“It’s just fascinating because it’s yet another example of irresponsible lies put out by that network, resulting in individuals, in this case, Ray Epps, who is a MAGA supporter, a conservative, a Fox viewer, who has been unfairly scapegoated for being — and none of this is true — but for being a federal agent or allied with the FBI and convincing the MAGA mob that day to do wrong,” Tapper said. “This is a this is going to be yet another lawsuit where there are very serious allegations and Fox has some explaining to do.”
Tapper then argued that there are similarities between Epps and the character of his recent book, which released Tuesday. Tapper argued that the story of Epps is similar to the main character of “All the Demons Are Here”, in that there are “serious consequences” and “ramifications” for not only your actions but for powerful people like Rupert Murdoch, too.
The CNN anchor has not been shy in his disgust for the way Fox News handled the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. After the network settled its lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million earlier this year, Tapper laughed while reading the statement Fox News made that mentioned “Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards”.
