Fox News talk show “The Five” has accused leftist media of trying to whitewash disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s image. According to hosts on the talk show, leftist media such as The New York Times are intent on rehabbing Bankman-Fried.
Co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy referenced The Times’ latest “puff piece,” hinting that Bankman-Fried’s indictment could hurt the Bahamas.
In the U.S., Sam Bankman-Fried is persona non grata. But in interviews across the Bahamas, residents say that his crimes were hardly comparable to the gang violence of the island, and expressed fears of economic fallout if crypto investors don't return. https://t.co/aUeAnImTbT
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 26, 2022
The Times claimed that while Sam Bankman-Fried is “persona non grata” in the U.S., residents in the Bahamas are sympathetic towards him and expressed fears of economic fallout if crypto investors don’t return.
Campos-Duffy reacted to the article, noting that Bankman-Fried was being treated like a celebrity.
“If you steal billions of dollars from average Americans, you are not a celebrity. You are a criminal,” Campos-Duffy said. “… And I believe something is going on here.”
https://www.air.tv/watch?v=chVqA6EuTES6P7zrMWnTzA
Campos-Duffy said Bankman-Fried’s demeanor shows that he’s not scared and knows that he’s being “protected by very powerful people.” While Campos-Duffy did not mention the powerful people, she has a theory for why those people could be backing the disgraced crypto king.
“It could be that this guy is meant to create so much doubt in crypto that it would make it easier for our government to usher in the digital dollar, which, as you know, is a powerful tool to control people,” Campos-Duffy posited.
The talk show’s leftist co-host Richard Fowler said he gets why the Bahamas are sympathetic towards Bankman-Fried. He, however, agreed that Bankman-Fried should be in jail,
“I think Sam Bankman-Fried should be behind bars,” Fowler said. ‘I don’t think he should be under house arrest. I think he committed major fraud.”
Fowler described the U.S. government’s failure to get Bankman-Fried sooner as a lack of oversight, greater transparency and consumer protection.
Bankman-Fried is currently under house arrest after posting $250 million bail. According to the New York Post, the FTX founder is in line to cash in on his crypto saga.
The post reported that “Moneyball” writer Michael Lewis spent several hours with Bankman-Fried on Tuesday, presumably working on a potential tell-all book. Reports suggest Lewis’s publishing agency has pitched the book to potential movie rights buyers.
