3/11/26: Jake Tapper Crashes Out On Ryan, Americans Says War Is For Epstein & Israel, Bill Maher Praises Iran War
March 11, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe Media War Over Iran: Epstein, Israel, and the Battle for Public Opinion
The same week the U.S. launched a war against Iran, CNN's Jake Tapper dedicated a segment to the Instagram likes of New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani's wife, the New York Times criticized the mayor for not making a TikTok after an IED was thrown at Gracie Mansion, and a new poll found that 52% of Americans believe Trump was at least partly motivated to attack Iran to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The episode captures a moment where the mainstream media's attention is split between covering a new war and attacking domestic political figures, while the public's skepticism about the war's rationale runs far deeper than what the establishment press is willing to measure.
The Mamdani Smear Campaign
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:12) **Zoran Mamdani Wife Instagram Controversy** - Ryan Grimm and DropSite are at the center of a controversy over NYC Mayor Mamdani's wife's Instagram likes, with CNN and NYT covering it heavily.
- 2 (09:04) **Jake Tapper's CNN Segment on Mamdani's Wife** - Tapper dedicates airtime to the Instagram likes controversy, bringing on Jonah Goldberg and Karen Finney to criticize the mayor and Mahmoud Khalil.
- 3 (17:24) **New York Times Joins the Smear Campaign** - The NYT publishes a bizarre article criticizing Mamdani for not making a TikTok after an IED attack near his residence.
- 4 (24:14) **Jake Tapper's Pro-War Propaganda Segment** - Tapper hosts an Israeli intelligence-linked analyst who claims Iranians are "overwhelmingly in favor" of the US/Israeli strikes.
- 5 (30:56) **The "Lab Leak" of October 7th Sexual Assault Claims** - Ryan draws a parallel between the public's rejection of the COVID lab leak narrative and the growing skepticism around unsubstantiated October 7th sexual assault claims.
- 6 (36:56) **DropSite/Zeteo Poll: Epstein Distraction Theory** - A new poll finds 52% of Americans believe Trump was at least partly motivated to attack Iran to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
- 7 (44:15) **ADL and Washington Post Label Epstein-Iran Link "Anti-Semitic"** - The ADL and WaPo claim linking Epstein to the Iran war is anti-Semitic disinformation, possibly pushed by Iran.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Ryan and Emily discuss Jake Tapper crashes out on Ryan, Americans say war is for Israel & Epstein, Bill Maher unhinged praise for Iran War.
Jeremy Scahill: https://x.com/jeremyscahill?s=20
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