Media critics make Secretary Acosta the story in Jeffrey Epstein scandal
Embattled Labor Secretary Alex Acosta faces firestorm of criticism for 2008 plea deal with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
Fox News' Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld criticized the media and Democrats for focusing on Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta and not Jeffrey Epstein on "The Five" Wednesday.
"Why are we talking about Acosta?" Watters asked. "This is a person, Epstein, who is a serial pedophile. We should be talking about him. We should be talking about his victims and why is there no interest in Bill Clinton, an ex-president who flew all around the world with a known pedophile?"
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In a press conference earlier Wednesday, Acosta explained why Epstein served only 13 months in jail and registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty in 2008 to two felony prostitution charges, despite facing up to life imprisonment. Epstein was charged this week with sex trafficking and conspiracy during the early 2000s based on new evidence and pleaded not guilty on Monday in New York City federal court.
Acosta claimed that the South Florida U.S. attorney's office he oversaw at the time had fought for a tougher punishment when state prosecutors were ready to let Epstein "walk free."
Watters blasted the media for their coverage, saying they don't really care about Epstein's victims.
"Why has the media decided to focus on Acosta? It's just to get a scalp because to me it doesn't seem like they really care about the victims," Watters said.
Gutfeld chimed in with his own criticism of the coverage.
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"Because we live... in a media world where objective news and the Democratic consensus are exactly the same. So only [in this world] could a Democratic donor's perversion reflect badly on a Republican," Gutfeld said, adding that the focus on Acosta was due to Trump holding the nation's highest office.
"Why is Acosta the story? Because Trump is president," Gutfeld said.
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.
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