Trump Rips Own Supporters for Wanting Epstein Files Released: ‘Only Pretty Bad People… Wanna Keep Something Like That Going’
President Donald Trump lashed out against those calling for more transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein case, which has animated a substantial segment of Trump’s base.
Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi set off a firestorm after a Department of Justice memo concluded that, contrary to popular belief, Epstein did not have a client list. That finding was a far cry from what Bondi said in February when she told Fox News the list was “sitting on my desk right now.” The memo also reiterated the DOJ’s position that Epstein committed suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019.
The DOJ’s conclusions outraged MAGA influencers, who had been told by Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino that the Epstein files contained a motherlode of damning information about rich and powerful Epstein associates. Trump, one such former associate, has brushed off questions about Bondi’s handling of the case.
The president spoke with reporters after arriving at Joint Base Andrews fresh off a trip to a business summit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. NBC News Senior White House Correspondent Garrett Haake broached the Epstein matter.
“Mr. President, I know you’ve urged people to move on,” Haake said. “But I’m curious, why do you think your supporters in particular have been so interested in the Epstein story and so upset with how it’s been handled?”
Trump replied:
I don’t understand it. I don’t know why they would be so interested. He’s dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is. I really don’t. And the credible information’s been given.
Don’t forget, we went through years of the Mueller witch hunt and all of the different things, the Steele dossier, which was all fake. All that information was fake.
But I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring. And I don’t understand why it keeps going. I think, really, only pretty bad people, including fake news, wanna keep something like that going. But credible information, let them give it. Anything that’s credible, I would say let them have it.
Watch above via C-SPAN.
