Vice PresidentJD Vancetook to Joe Rogan’s MAGA-friendly, misinformation-fueled podcast on Wednesday to push the Trump administration’s propaganda on a variety of topics, including its withholding of documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rogan’s show is known for platformingNazi apologists,anti-vaccine activistsand other far-right figures while often offering meek, if any, pushback. So it seems clear why Vance chose this particular venue to peddle misleading claims about the Epstein files. After all, there’s arguably no bigger megaphone for MAGA propaganda.
And it didn’t hurt that Tuesday’s podcast was released at the same time that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — a key Trump ally who hassought to end further inquiryinto the Epstein files —sat for a confirmation hearingen route to potentially becoming the new attorney general.
JD Vance:“I've never seen a single piece of credible evidence that Trump ever engaged in wrongdoing with minors”pic.twitter.com/V2D5F3Fqzm
The vice president told Rogan that Trump and his administration weren’t “forced” to release the previously withheld files.
“People say the president was forced into releasing the documents,” Vance said. “Like, again, the idea that Donald Trump could not have killed that legislation, especially with the United States Senate, is a joke.”
False. In reality, Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s, desperately tried —and failed— to kill the legislation that forced the Justice Department to release the files. He had public tantrums over Republicans who supported the legislation, and there’s no evidence he had the ability to thwart the Senate, which approved the measure by unanimous consent.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.,has saidTrump scolded her for pushing to release the Epstein files and that he told her, “My friends will get hurt.” Beyond that, the White House’s frantic efforts to control the scandalous narrative has been well-documented, including in a recentbombshell reportfrom The New York Times.
In other words, Trump wasabsolutelyforced to release the files.
Vance also said the administration “did mishandle” the release, “especially the communications of it,” framing the fiasco as an oopsie from a well-intentioned White House. And when Rogan asked Vance why some of the people whose names were redacted weren’t alleged victims, Vance gave a mealy mouthed response about the supposed difficulty in discerning victims from perpetrators.
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The DOJ hasdevastated some of the survivorsby leaving their names unredacted — whileconversely redacting the names of several powerful and wealthy men, in seeming defiance of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Lawmakers arestillaccusingthe administration of failing to comply with the law, to be clear.
As vice president, Vance has basically assumed the role of the Trump regime’schief propagandist. And he clearly wanted to use the Rogan interview to try to convince the public that the administration’s handling of the Epstein scandal has been all above board, even if imperfect.
But the idea that all of the White House’s failings essentially boil down to communication is nonsense.
Poor communication doesn’t fully explain why Trump and members of his administration havecalled the scandal a“hoax”andtold Americans they should move on.
