JD Vance Calls Himself an Epstein Conspiracy Theorist During Fiery Debate on The View

Vice President JD Vance admitted that he is a Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theorist as he stepped into the lion’s den of The View on Tuesday morning.

In a particularly contentious moment during his conversation with View panelists Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, and Alyssa Farah Griffin, Vance was asked about his role in the release of files pertaining to the late sex trafficker.

It began as Hostin asked Vance about a New York Times report that places Vance in the middle of conversations within the Trump administration grappling over what to do about the Epstein files.

“The report says you even floated having Tucker Carlson interview Ghislaine Maxwell to clear the president’s name,” Hostin said. “But you were rebuffed by your people. Why?”

Vance responded by urging the panelists not to believe everything they read, “whether it’s a right-leaning paper or a left-leaning paper.”

He added: “Well, there are things that are true, things that are false, and things that are totally missing context.”

As Hostin pressed Vance over what was true, he admitted he’s an Epstein conspiracy theorist.

“Here’s what I’ll say: So, number one, I am frankly kind of a conspiracy theory on the Epstein stuff,” Vance said. “And that story says that that’s one of the things that’s true is that some people called me a conspiracy theory on the Epstein stuff.”

Read the conversation here:

SUNNY HOSTIN: Mr. Vice President, according to a new report from The New York Times, you were the leading voice behind the scenes to release the Epstein files. And we applaud you for that. And you warned top officials, including top DOJ officials at strategy meetings taking place inside the Situation Room — we understand there are tapes of those meetings — that this was a huge problem for the base. The report says you even floated having Tucker Carlson interview Ghislaine Maxwell to clear the president’s name. But you were rebuffed by your people. Why?

VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: I would say first of all, don’t believe everything that you read in any newspaper whether it’s a right-leaning paper or a left-leaning paper, because as you guys know-

HOSTIN: Is any of it true?

VANCE: Well, there are things that are true, things that are false, and things that are totally missing context.

HOSTIN: What part of it is true?

VANCE: Here’s what I’ll say: So, number one, I am frankly kind of a conspiracy theory on the Epstein stuff. And that story says that that’a one of the things that’s true is that some people called me a conspiracy theory on the Epstein stuff.

HOSTIN: Chief of Staff Susie Wiles calls you a conspiracy theorist.

VANCE: Now I love Susie, but absolutely. She thinks I’m a conspiracy theorist on the Epstein stuff because I think that it’s crazy that you have this guy who is clearly a sex predator, who is hanging out with a lot of very wealthy and powerful people. That really bothered me. I don’t know what’s there, of course. Nobody knows exactly what happened unless you were there. But that really bothered me. And I wanted to have full transparency. But what I disagree with is the idea that the White House wasn’t committed to full transparency. You have to remember like I was inside the room when some of these decisions were made. The Epstein files Transparency Act, the one that the president signed, The one that led to all these files that you were seeing these emails — Sorry, Joy, I do have to defend my boss. I know you guys don’t always appreciate this. One of the things you see in the Epstein emails is that Epstein hated Donald Trump. And that Donald Trump literally reported Jeffrey Epstein to the police. That’s one of the things that came out of these files.

ANNA NAVARRO: They were best friends for about decade. And remember, he signed that Transparency Act under duress when some Republican women, congresswomen like Lauren Boebert, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, did not give into his pressure of not signing. He brought Lauren Boebert into the Situation Room to pressure her into caving on not voting for that bill.

VANCE: So let me respond to that.

HOSTIN: That’s all true.

VANCE: Let me respond to that. Number one is, yes, Donald Trump said this. He knew Jeffrey Epstein in the 1980s. He threw Epstein out of his club when he found out he was a creep and reported him to the police. That’s something that the media often misses when it reports this story. They tell the fact they knew each other in the 80s, which the president himself admits. They ignore the fact that he narced on ’em to the police and led ultimately to Jeffrey Epstein’s downfall. To that point, Ana, you know the Republican party-

HOSTIN: I don’t know if that led to his downfall.

VANCE: Well, it’s one of the things that led to a law enforcement investigation.

NAVARRO: It was allegedly over a real estate deal they got into a fight over. Let’s be truthful and transparent. They didn’t just know each other. They didn’t just know each other. They were incredibly close friends.

JOY BEHAR: He’s in a lot of pictures

VANCE: He reported him to the police. That is objectively true. But Ana made another point. Whoopi, if I may, because Ana made an important point/ This question about did Donald Trump release these files only under duress from Republicans? You know the Republican party probably better than I do. The idea that Donald Trump runs around afraid of Republican congressmen as opposed to the other way around, is kind of crazy. Because the Republicans control the house and senate, particularly the senate, you need the Republican sign-off. What the president did — I will say this. Again, I was in there in the meetings. He was very frustrated that the Democrats were making this about him when he is like, I threw the guy out of my club. I’m the guy who reported him to the police or one of the people who reported him to the police. The president was frustrated about that. Absolutely. But he eventually came to say, “You know what, let’s get everything out there. Let’s have this out in the public. He actually called the senators. I was there. He called the senators and said, “Pass this bill. I will sign it” and that was it.

Watch above via ABC.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!