Vice President JD Vance came to the defense of President Donald Trump after The Wall Street Journal reported that he had sent a lewd letter to late Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
Trump has promised to sue the newspaper after it published a report on Thursday describing a sexually suggestive letter bearing Trump’s name and a typewritten message in an outline of a naked woman. The WSJ claims the letter was included in a 2003 album for the disgraced financier.
“Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the newspaper said the letter concludes, but did not include it directly in the story.
In posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump has denied writing the letter and making a drawing, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory” and “another example of FAKE NEWS!” On Friday, he asked why Democrats, who he claimed “’controlled’” the files under former President Joe Biden, did not release a “’smoking gun’” on Epstein, adding that it is “BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!”
Vance, meanwhile, had already responded to the report earlier.
“Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bulls—. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it,” Vance wrote on X.
“Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?” he continued to ask.
In a separate post, Vance questioned if the story would “violate some rule of journalistic ethics” if it was not shown to “the victim of this hit piece.”
“Will the people who have bought into every hoax against President Trump show an ounce of skepticism before buying into this bizarre story?” he added.
His defense of Trump was quickly met with mockery by other social media users — some who pointed to the vice president’s past remarks.
Journalist Jordan Weissmann noted Vance’s question of “Where is the letter?”
“My lord, I’ve never seen anybody tempt fate more brazenly on this website,” Weissmann wrote.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) asked, “Why are you fighting back against releasing what your administration and DOJ knows about Epstein?”
“Release the unedited video and the files. Bring it to light. That should clear everything up,” she added.
One user pointed to Vance’s past Twitter post when the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape was released, before Trump was elected in 2016, that included him speaking in vulgar terms about groping women.
“Fellow Christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man. Lord help us,” Vance wrote at the time.
“Pod Save America” co-host Tommy Vietor added that “As the saying goes, ‘you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself help suppress the Epstein files.’ Has anyone sold their soul more completely than @JDVance?”
One user said: “There’s some bulls—, alright, but I think we all know where it’s coming from. What a tool.”
“It sounds *exactly* like pre-Apprentice, pre-politics Trump, what are you talking about?” another user asked, and a different user wrote, “You sold your soul to a pedophile you once called ‘America’s Hitler.’ Was it worth it?”
Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s short-lived former White House communications director, encouraged Vance to “step away.”“This sounds like falling into a trap for WSJ to publish this letter and extend the news cycle lmao,” someone added.Trump and his administration have been found at the center of a firestorm over their handling of a recent memo from the Justice Department and FBI that concluded that the convicted sex offender did not keep a “client list,” blackmail public figures or was murdered.Some of the president’s most ardent supporters had been calling for the release of the documents, which has been branded as the so-called Epstein files, for years, speculating the cause of the disgraced financier’s death and whether others should be implicated. Trump and other administration officials have previously vowed to make the files public, but have appeared to walk back on their claims.In recent days, Trump has ripped into his own base over its meltdown,claiming that he no longer wants support from “weaklings” who are invested in the case.
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