Despite Fox host Martha MacCallum’s best spin on behalf of Alex Acosta’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, Judge Andrew Napolitano delivered the ultimate verdict to Fan in Chief Trump: We’re telling you to fire Labor Secretary Acosta because we’re your pals.

Despite Fox’s ridiculous claim that MacCallum represents “the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism,” the truth is, she seems never to have met a Republican talking point she wasn’t willing to make her own.

So it was no surprise that she prefaced what she surely knew would be Napolitano’s slam against Acosta's press conference earlier today with a Trump-friendly showering of blame on Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. for his efforts to further soften the shockingly lenient sentence Epstein got via then-federal prosecutor Acosta.

That’s not to say Vance doesn’t deserve the criticism but MacCallum spent more than half the 4:15 segment attacking Vance, then defended Acosta in the rest of it. She didn’t even question why Acosta kept his deal with Epstein so secret it violated the Crime Victims Rights Act.

As you can see in the video below, MacCallum began with a tribalistic effort to delegitimize Acosta critics. She cited a Wall Street Journal editorial to claim that attacks on him are just a way for Democrats to “point the finger at Trump and away from a prominent New Yorker.” MacCallum was speaking accusingly about both Democrats and Vance. She then carefully detailed all the reasons Vance should bear blame and carefully ignored any reasons Acosta should. She even offered a dramatic reading of a judge’s criticism of Vance’s handling of the case.

However, when she finally moved off the subject of Vance and onto the subject of Acosta and today’s presser, it was clear that Fox was sending a message to Trump, in the most Trump-supportive way possible, to dump Acosta.

First, MacCallum defended Acosta. “He argued that it was unorthodox for the federal government to intervene in this state investigation and the way he portrayed his own part of that activity in this was, you know, ‘We came in there and we made it sure that at least [Epstein] was charged with something!’” she exclaimed sympathetically. She didn’t mention that cushy jail experience Epstein received.

Napolitano wasn’t buying it. He called the press conference “very lawyerly and very methodical.” But, Napolitano continued, “It was timid, it was not persuasive, there was no passion, there was no outrage.”

“Instead of indicting this monster and having an indictment hang over his head while the lawyers negotiated, they negotiated first and the lawyers talked [Acosta] out of indicting him,” Napolitano added.

MacCallum to the Acosta defense! “He said there wasn’t the evidence that exists now then and that the women were not willing to come forward and they felt like they weren’t going to get anywhere,” she said.

Napolitano wasn’t buying that either. He said, “The evidence that the Miami Herald came up with, much of which seems to have escaped his memory, is clearly enough, was clearly enough.”

Should Trump “hang in there” with Acosta, MacCallum asked.

Napolitano delivered his message directly to the Fan in Chief: “Mr. President wash your hands of this. You don’t need this taint.”

Watch Trump’s TV advisers below, from the July 10, 2019 The Story with Martha MacCallum.