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Our first lady has established herself as a queen of lying low, so after Melania Trumpstrutted into a White House summit with a robota couple weeks ago, I assumed that would be a wrap on her for a while. She got her time sheet stamped for the spring and was free to retreat back to New York or Palm Beach until she had somenew NFTs to sell, I assumed. Instead, Melania is back on our screens already, and, what’s more, she has a lot to say about Jeffrey Epstein and how much she doesn’t know him. Confused? You’re not alone. Here’s a rundown of what exactly is going on with the first lady and the notorious convicted sex offender.
What did Melania Trump say about Epstein?
On Thursday, she surprised the pressby delivering a six-minute statement at the White Housedenying that she knew or had any relationship with Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said. In the statement, she acknowledged that she had met the two, attended events where they were present, and had emailed with Maxwell, but apparently, none of that constitutes a relationship. She added that it was not Epstein who introduced her to President Donald Trump, she was not a victim of theirs, and she had no knowledge of their crimes. She also called on Congress to give a hearing to Epstein’s victims.
Seems kind of out of nowhere. Was anyone even thinking about her and Epstein?
Yes and no. The Epstein scandal has been Topic A in the news at several points since Trump came back into office, and Melania hastaken umbrage beforeat the suggestion that she has anything to do with it. But Epstein talk has definitely been on the back burner in recent weeks, with the war in Iran especially taking precedence.
Was she telling the truth about not knowing Epstein and Maxwell?
After the statement,a well-known photo of Donald Trump, Melania, Epstein, and Maxwell together at an event in the year 2000, standing close and looking awfully cozy, began to circulate online once again. In it, they definitely look like people who know one another, to say the least. The email Melania referred to in the statement, sent by her to Maxwell in 2002, also isn’t hard to find.In it, the first lady complimented Maxwell on a recent profile of Epstein that had appeared in New York magazine and invites her to call her when she is back in New York.
Melania dismissed it as “casual correspondence,” but she also signed it “Love, Melania.” Even if they weren’t the best of friends, it’s hard to believe that they had zero relationship—clearly, there was some connection there, even if it was just at an acquaintance level. The president, meanwhile,had a much deeper relationship with Epstein—a real friendship. In trying to disassociate herself from the scandal, Melania’s lack of acknowledgment of her husband’s ties to Epstein stands out as a confusing, but increasingly familiar, bit of cognitive dissonance.
Did President Trump know she was going to do this?
It’s unclear.According to the New York Times, “a spokesperson for Mrs. Trump said the president knew that the first lady planned to make a statement, but later said it was not clear if Mr. Trump was aware of the topic of her remarks. In a phone call withan MS Now reporter, Mr. Trump said he had no prior knowledge of what she had planned to say.” I certainly don’t have any trouble believing Trump has no idea what’s going on in his wife’s mind or his administration. If it’s not theballroom redesign, he’s pretty over it.
How has the reaction to the statement been? Do we think this is going to go well for Melania?
