Ex-Biden Spox Hammers Trump On MSNBC: ‘Terrified’ He’ll Be Exposed In Epstein Files

Former senior Biden aide Andrew Bates hammered President Donald Trump on MSNBC, bringing up the so-called Epstein Files repeatedly and claiming Trump is “terrified” of revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

It now been just over one month since the Trump Justice Department dropped the bombless bomb heard ’round the world when they claimed there actually was no client list, and no “Epstein Files” worth releasing.

While media attention to the story has waned from its peak, new developments continue to grab headlines and prompt strategy sessions in the Trump White House.

Bates — currently a senior communications advisor for The Cost Coalition — was a guest on Monday night’s edition of MSNBC’s The Weeknight, during which he dropped multiple references to Trump being implicated by the Epstein Files into a segment about tariffs:

ANDREW BATES: I think that he’s exacerbating the problem because he promised people that inflation would end. That’s a direct quote from his RNC speech in 2024, and that it would end fast.

But now people see that as a direct consequence of his actions, of these tariffs, which are the biggest tax increase on working people since the 1930s, their costs are going up. And he keeps treating people like they’re stupid.

That’s what he’s doing with the Epstein files. Like he thinks it’s not evident to everybody, that he’s not terrified there’s something in there about him.

And he’s, the same thing on the economy. He fired the nonpartisan official who’s in charge of jobs numbers because he didn’t like the result. Job growth is going down because of these tariffs.

And he thinks that somehow if he hides the numbers, people won’t know. I think that offends folks, including a lot of his supporters.

…

MICHAEL STEELE: Andrew, you raised a point a little bit ago about, you know, the revenue that’s coming, that’s being generated and all of this, and you’ve got Trump out here, interestingly enough, beating his chest and bragging about the fact that all this revenue is coming in.

But there’s a little of reality here I want to put on the table.

From Politico, noting that the promises that have been made about this revenue may backfire: “Several companies and states have challenged Trump’s use of an emergency law to impose some of his duties on individual countries. As part of the case, companies have demanded the federal government pay them back for the tariff fees they’ve already paid out. This would undercut one of the core arguments Trump has made to justify his trade agenda, that his tariffs are bringing in unprecedented revenue that can help pay for his tax cuts.”

Folks, he lying to you, all right? That’s the bottom line, because A, it’s a tax, right? B, if the courts rule against him, they have to pay that money back. Talk about what this lie means for the American people.

ANDREW BATES: You’re right that it’s fraught on legal grounds, and I think it’s even more fraught on political grounds because when he brags about taking in hundreds of billions of dollars through tariffs, he’s bragging about raising costs that working people pay.

Again, this is the biggest tax on working families since the Great Depression. And they’re taking that money and putting it straight into the pockets of billionaire donors like the other people on the Epstein list along with Donald Trump.

And that kind of special treatment for corrupt elites is the exact opposite of what people were promised. And I think they’re outraged by it.

Watch above via MSNBC’s The Weeknight.