White House Explains Trump’s Epstein ‘Hoax’ Claim

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that President Trump’s Jeffrey Epstein “hoax” comment was in reference to Democrats seizing the Epstein hysteria after showing little to no interest in the case for years.

On Wednesday, Trump blasted his “past supporters,” whom he says have fallen for a “hoax” pushed by Democrats by focusing on the Epstein case.

Asked by Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich to clarify what Trump meant by calling the Epstein case a “hoax,” Leavitt said during Thursday’s White House press briefing, “The president is referring to the fact that Democrats have now seized on this as if they ever wanted transparency when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, which is an asinine suggestion for any Democrat to make.”

“The Democrats had control of this building, the White House, for four years, and they didn’t do a dang thing when it came to transparency in regards to Jeffrey Epstein and his heinous crimes. It was this president who directed the Department of Justice and the attorney general to do an exhaustive review of all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which they did,” she added.

Leavitt argued that the investigation into the Epstein files was led by “great patriots” and “some of the most trusted voices in the Republican Party movement,” referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Last week, the DOJ concluded that it did not find evidence of a client list existing and concluded that Epstein committed suicide in his jail cell in 2019.

“They spent many months going through all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein, and they concluded what they found in that memo, which they drafted and they released,” Leavitt said. “So the president has been transparent. He has followed through on his promises to the American people, but he doesn’t like to see Democrats and the mainstream media covering this like it’s the biggest story that the American people care about.”

Democrats have latched onto the issue to attack Trump, voting in the House to release the Epstein files, a move that Republicans called a political stunt and a power grab.

Later during the press briefing, Leavitt said that Trump “would not recommend a special prosecutor” to look into the Epstein case, adding that “the idea was floated from someone in the media.” The president would be open to revisiting the case further if the DOJ or FBI find any new information, according to Leavitt.

Earlier this week, Trump called those focusing on the Epstein controversy “pretty bad people” and defended Bondi’s handling of the case. Conservatives criticized Bondi after she said in February that she had Epstein’s client list on her desk, but then clarified months later that she meant that she was reviewing the Epstein files.

A poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos this week showed that only 17% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the Epstein case. Among Republicans, 35% approved while 30% disapproved, and the rest said they were unsure or didn’t answer. Additionally, 69% of respondents said that the federal government is covering up details about Epstein’s alleged client list.