MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell railed in opposition to the White Home press corps Wednesday for failing to place up a united entrance in solely asking President Donald Trump about his ties to convicted intercourse trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, a former affiliate of the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump held a information convention within the Oval Workplace earlier within the day and was requested by solely two reporters about Maxwell and Epstein. He known as the story “bullshit” when one journalist referenced experiences that Vice President JD Vance was planning to strategize on a response to the controversy throughout a non-public assembly.
Vance chimed in and claimed, “We’re not meeting to talk about the Epstein situation.”
“Every meeting is about the Epstein situation,” O’Donnell argued Wednesday on “The Last Word.” “Every Trump event and every Trump meeting, Trump administration meeting, Trump White House meeting, is about the Epstein situation.”
“It’s about how to extract Donald Trump from his personal history with child rapist Jeffrey Epstein, who said, quote, ‘I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years,’” he continued. “That meeting in the Oval Office today … was about the Epstein situation.”
The assembly was, a minimum of formally, about Trump’s supposed plans to revive American manufacturing, which started in April with the announcement of steep worldwide tariffs and continued Wednesday with a brand new 100% tariff on semiconductor chips.
O’Donnell, who known as this levy “illegal” and “unconstitutional,” didn’t purchase the theatrics.
“It was about distracting attention from the Epstein situation, and it worked with almost all the White House reporters in the room who were allowed to ask questions,” he mentioned, noting that out of the 33 questions requested, “exactly four of them were about the Epstein situation.”
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O’Donnell praised CBS Information’ Nancy Cordes and Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey for elevating the topic, however torched the remainder of the “reliably weak White House press corps” for staying silent on its newest developments — equivalent to Maxwell’s jail switch.
Epstein, whose documented ties to Trump span many years, died in jail in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on federal intercourse trafficking fees. Maxwell, who’s looking for a cope with the administration, was moved to a minimum-security facility in Texas final week.
As O’Donnell famous Monday, Trump mentioned shortly after Maxwell’s arrest, “I wish her well.” Epstein’s demise fueled rumors that many highly effective figures tied to him have been included on a “client list” that was amongst papers associated to the case within the Justice Division’s possession. The administration vowed in February to launch these earlier than Trump known as the paperwork a “hoax.”
For O’Donnell and many others, together with Trump voters, no story is extra essential.
“Jeffrey Epstein is dead,” he mentioned Wednesday. “And as long as Donald Trump is alive, Donald Trump should face questions and suspicions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And the White House press corps should unite in its pursuit of answers to those questions.”
Watch O’Donnell’s full monologue beneath:
