Pics that recently landed on the internet have sparked new judgment of New York Times scribe David Brooks. This is especially disappointing after his earlier dismissal of the whole Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Those pictures are from the gala dinner Brooks used to launch himself into the public eye, seated next to publicity magnet Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google. Yet under these circumstantial inferences, Brooks vehemently claims that he had no individual interaction with Epstein before or after this meeting.
Brooks has repeatedly argued that the Epstein case isn’t that big a deal in his on-the-record press interviews. In a recent column for The New York Times, he lamented the political class’s lack of interest in the still-unfolding scandal. Further, on a July visit to PBS NewsHour, he was even more scornful of the subject. He slammed Democrats for “jumping on this bandwagon,” and calling for more transparency into Epstein’s known connections.
In his PBS NewsHour commentary last week, Brooks compared the public fascination with Epstein to conspiracy theories like QAnon. He claimed that Americans have developed an uncharacteristic idiosyncratic faith. They believe that some nefarious cabal of elites is conspiring to do evil things through backrooms.
The continued release of photographs documenting Brooks’ attendance at a small dinner event with Epstein have added to the controversy. The committee has been releasing the photos in several bundles. All of this has fueled even further speculation about Brooks’ thoughts given what he’s had to say in the past.
“To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with attending the same event as Jeffrey Epstein.” – Jacob Shamsian
Rightfully so, critics have pointed out this glaring double standard. They claim that Brooks went to the event but did not disclose this fact while stating he didn’t care about the ongoing Epstein case. Jacob Shamsian, a journalist, noted, “I just find it odd to not write about the topic when you’re a journalist and he’s the biggest story on the planet.”
Brooks has made no secret of the fact that he is confused as to why Epstein still wins most of our discussions in American public life. He remarked, “Why is Epstein the top issue in American life right now?” He feels like the media is always drawing attention to the worst-case scenarios. His note is a crucial reminder that these epics don’t deserve front page coverage.
In his examination of media trends, Brooks lamented that today’s viewers increasingly prefer shorter, snackable content. “Well, in an age in which more and more people get their news from short videos, if you’re in politics, the media or online it pays to focus on topics that are salacious, are easy to understand and allow you to offer self-confident opinions with no actual knowledge,” he stated.
Given the significance of timing, Brooks’ comments about the media distractions ring true to his overall theme about timing. He noted, “Every August, Washington goes crazy with some stupid story. And then in September we think, ‘What was that all about?’”
The spotlight on Brooks grows even harsher. In response to our inquiry, a spokesperson for The New York Times confirmed the following account, but declined to provide specific information about Brooks’ behavior or comments.