GOP Congressman Roasts Trump After President’s Epstein Files Reversal: ‘He Got Tired of Us Winning’

Sarah RumpfNov 17th, 2025, 9:13 pm
 

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) took a victory lap Monday evening after President Donald Trump reversed his opposition to the House vote to release the Epstein files in an appearance on AC360.

With Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) finally sworn into office last week after a 50-day delay, a House petition for a vote to release the files related to deceased convicted child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein had the 218 signatures needed to pass. For months, Trump has denounced the effort as a “Democrat hoax” and publicly berated any Republicans who supported it.

On Sunday, however, Trump wrote a Truth Social post that surprised many, calling for House Republicans to go ahead and vote to release the Epstein files.

Anderson Cooper interviewed Massie and his Democratic co-sponsor for the petition, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on Monday’s episode, and kicked off the segment by asking Massie what he thought about Trump’s reversal.

“Well, he got tired of us winning, and he decided to join us,” replied Massie with a slight chuckle. “Look, they could have done this four months ago, and instead, they fought us every bit of the way. Now they want to be on our side. We’ll accept their support.”

Massie added that the bill’s supporters were still “a little bit suspicious of this sudden turn of events, so we’ll keep an eye on things,” explaining that they were “worried that maybe they’ll try to muck it up in the Senate.”

He did think that there would be “a straight up or down vote” on Tuesday on the language that he and Khanna had introduced, and expected it to be “a very big vote…at least a veto-proof majority.”

Khanna agreed, saying Trump’s changed position was because “he can do math,” and credited Massie for doing “a great job” rallying Republican support “in defiance of Donald Trump.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.