Trump distances himself from Epstein again and calls for revoking ABC's license after a question from a reporter – VIDEO
Donald Trump. Photo: Francis Chung / INSTARimages.com – INSTAR Images / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump again distanced himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying on Tuesday that he had “nothing to do” with him, claims made shortly before a vote in the US Congress to release all unclassified Epstein records.
“I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I kicked him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert, and, well, I was right,” the US president told reporters at the White House while receiving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, writes Agerpres.
The question about the Epstein political scandal came from an ABC News journalist. Disturbed by the question, Trump said the broadcast license used by ABC should be “withdrawn,” Reuters reports.
“I think ABC's license should be revoked because your news is so fake and it's so wrong,” Trump said.
ABC has been in Trump's sights before
In that context, Trump praised Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, whom he appointed to lead the agency in January. “They should look into it,” Trump said of the license revocation.
Carr met with Trump in Florida this weekend, according to a post on Carr's social media.
It was the second time in recent months that ABC has been in Donald Trump's sights.
In September, Trump praised Carr for pressuring the broadcaster to fire ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after the host made comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump also suggested then that the television license should be withdrawn.
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Vote to release the Epstein files
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to require the release of Justice Department files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an outcome President Trump fought for months before finally dropping his opposition.
US Congress votes to release Epstein files. Decision taken with only one vote against
Two days after Trump's sudden change of heart, the measure passed by 427 votes to one, so the Senate will now consider a resolution requiring the release of all unclassified records about Epstein. However, there is no certainty that the Republican leader of the majority in the Senate will even organize a vote there, AFP states.
The public and increasingly bitter conflict between Republicans over the Epstein files has fractured relations between Trump and some of his most ardent supporters.
Before the vote, about 20 survivors of Epstein's alleged abuse joined a trio of elected Democrats and Republicans outside the US Capitol to demand the release of the records. The women held up photos of themselves when they were younger, the age they said they first met Epstein, a New York financier who fraternized with some of the most powerful men in the country.
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The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trump's side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein in front of his own supporters, Reuters comments.
Many Trump voters believe his administration covered up Epstein's ties to powerful figures and hid details of his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan prison in 2019.
Despite changing his position on the bill, the Republican president remains angry about the attention given to the Epstein case, Reuters added, recalling how Trump told an ABC News reporter on Tuesday that he was a “terrible person” when she asked him a question about it.
