ABC reporter’s Epstein question to Trump revives claims Disney network tried to bury scandal

WASHINGTON, DC: An exchange between an ABC News reporter and President Donald Trump during a White House event has reignited scrutiny of the network’s parent company, The Walt Disney Company.

The confrontation reignited a long-standing accusation that the Disney-owned network suppressed elements of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

Trump clashes with ABC News’ Mary Bruce 

ABC News’ Mary Bruce repeatedly confronted Donald Trump on why he had not taken action himself when it came to the Epstein files. 

"Why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?" Bruce asked.

"It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude," Trump responded to Bruce. "I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions."

The POTUS suggested Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr should consider removing ABC’s broadcast license.

"I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake. And it’s so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman who should look at that," Trump told the reporter, accusing her network of being biased against him.

The White House sent out a press release the next day, declaring ABC News as "fake news," listing the network's various controversies and allegations of slanted coverage against Trump.

Critics revive the 2019 Epstein suppression allegations

However, critics are now pointing back to the 2019 leaked video in which a former ABC News anchor claimed that the Disney-owned network stopped her from reporting on the Epstein scandal. 

"I've had the story for three years... we would not put it on the air," Amy Robach said on a hot mic, referring to reporting that would have taken place in 2016.

"It was unbelievable what we had, Clinton, we had everything," she added, an apparent reference to former President Bill Clinton.

"I tried for three years to get it on, to no avail. And now it’s all coming out, and it’s like these new revelations, and I freaking had all of it. I’m so pi**ed right now," she further said. 

In the video, Robach says she has secured an interview with Virginia Giuffre, the Epstein survivor who named Prince Andrew. 

"I've had this interview with Virginia Roberts. We would not put it on the air," Robach said. "First of all, I was told, 'Who’s Jeffrey Epstein? No one knows who that is. This is a stupid story.' Then, the Palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened us a million different ways. We were so afraid we wouldn’t be able to interview Kate and Will that we — that also quashed the story."

"Like every day, I get more and more pi**ed 'cause I'm just like, ‘Oh my God... what we had was unreal.’ Other women backing it up... Brad Edwards, the attorney [for Epstein's victims], three years ago said something like there will come a day, but we will realize Jeffrey Epstein was the most prolific pedophile this country has ever known. I had it all three years ago," she added.

"As a journalist, as the Epstein story continued to unfold last summer, I was caught in a private moment of frustration. I was upset that an important interview I had conducted with [Epstein accuser] Virginia Roberts didn’t air because we could not obtain sufficient corroborating evidence to meet ABC’s editorial standards about her allegations," Robach said in a 2019 statement provided to Fox News Digital. 

ABC News at the time downplayed the significance of the video despite widespread criticism, saying that Robach’s Epstein story wasn’t fit to air.

"Not all of our reporting met our standards to air, but we have never stopped investigating the story. Ever since, we’ve had a team on this investigation and substantial resources dedicated to it," an ABC News spokesperson told Fox News Digital.