Conservative commentator Ann Coulter criticized fellow right-wingers, including former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, for endorsing the Ray Epps January 6 conspiracy theory. Coulter voiced her disagreement with the theory during an interview with the New York Times’ Jeremy Peters. The theory suggests that Epps, present at the Capitol riot, was an undercover federal law enforcement agent inciting Trump supporters to commit illegal acts.
Coulter disputed the conspiracy theory, citing a New York Times report that offered a detailed explanation of Epps’ actions and how he suffered consequences, including having to sell his business. She pointed out that a clip used by Tucker Carlson to support the theory was from the night before the riot and emphasized that on the day of the event, Epps reportedly discouraged people from entering the Capitol, according to separate FBI interviews.
Epps, who was eventually charged with a misdemeanor by the Department of Justice, sued Fox News in July for alleged defamation, particularly on Carlson’s show. Coulter criticized the New York Times for omitting relevant details in their reporting but acknowledged that outright false statements are rare and usually corrected. She expressed concern about the credibility of the Epps conspiracy theory and the damage it could cause to those implicated.
“The clip that Tucker kept playing of him saying ‘And then we’re going to go into the Capitol’ or something like that, that was the night before! The day of, he and the person he was whispering to both told the FBI separately ‘No, he was telling us don’t go in, don’t go in, don’t go in.’” continued Coulter.
“He [Epps] literally had to sell this going business he had in Arizona with his wife, it was a wedding venue. Now they’re in hiding. I mean, there’s a lot of- the way the New York Times lies is by omission. They don’t tell you things that are really sort of a relevant part of the story. Sorry, Jeremy, cover your ears at this part. But they don’t just say things that are outright false, or at least very rarely and then they make a correction,” she concluded.
Please stop buying into every whack-job conspiracy theory, right-wingers.
The truth about Ray Epps in less than 2 minutes. pic.twitter.com/fPNTeFWgma
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 3, 2023
