Toward the end of an unrelated White House event, Donald Trump fielded a handful of questions from reporters on Monday, one of whom mentioned the president’s threat to sue comedian Trevor Noah over a joke he told at the Grammys.
Before the reporter could even finish the question, Trump interjected, trashed Noah for a while, and whined about how “terrible” he found the Grammys, before turning his attention to Jeffrey Epstein, whom the president said he had “nothing to do with.”
But he didn’t stop there. Trump proceeded to claim that unnamed Democrats secretly “conspired with Epstein” and, as part of their plot, partnered with the convicted sex offender “to try and help me lose the election.”
Even by the president’s standards, this was quite bonkers. There have been plenty of conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein in recent years, but the line Trump peddled on Monday was new, baseless, bizarre and wholly unsupported by anything resembling evidence.
This was not, however, the president’s only provocative claim related to his former associate. Shortly before the White House event got underway, Trump published an item to his social media platform in which he said he wasn’t “friendly with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Given the circumstances, that’s an odd thing to lie about. NBC News noted that while there’s no evidence that Trump ever visited Epstein’s island, there’s “substantial evidence that they were friendly.” The report noted:
‘I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,’ Trump told New York magazine in 2002, before there were any public allegations of wrongdoing against Epstein. ‘He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.’
A November 1992 clip from the NBC archives showed the two socializing at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, pointing out women on the dance floor. In a part of the tape, Trump is heard saying something to Epstein that causes him to double over in laughter. Epstein also attended Trump’s 1993 wedding to Marla Maples, according to a photo obtained by CNN.
At least in theory, there shouldn’t be any reason for the president to make stuff up. As NBC News’ report concluded, “Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and there is no evidence connecting him to Epstein’s crimes.” The two men were obviously friendly in years past, but that need not be inherently incriminating.
It’s why Trump’s willingness to push a line that is obviously untrue is such an odd and unnecessary misstep.
