Melania gets bad news after surprise Epstein announcement - Another Day - Brian Tyler Cohen

BTC: Melania tries to position herself as an advocate for the Epstein survivors, but those survivors had some choice words in response. This is just another day.

By now, everyone has seen Melania's address to the nation about Epstein, saying that the survivors should be allowed to come forward and testify.

But now, Epstein survivors have issued a response. Survivors have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony. Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice. First Lady Melania Trump is now shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power. It also diverts attention from Pam Bondi.

Good for them. And I have to say, this is all pretty wild, mostly because it's rare that someone with the last name Trump is asking women to speak more. But how did we even get here? Today was pretty much feeling like all others, sitting around waiting for our current president to stub his toe and once again threatened to commit war crimes. But then this happened.

[cut to video]
Melania Trump: Good afternoon. The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Uh, I'm going to be honest here. I can't tell which one of us just woke up from a coma. Are there new assertions about Melania and Epstein that I didn't know about? Or did she just wake up to discover that she's in a bunch of pictures with a pedophile? Part of me feels like the next words out of Melania's mouth are going to be, "Also, I would like to congratulate Taylor and Travis on their engagement, as well as welcome Katy Perry back from space." But let's just hear her out.

[cut to video]
Melania Trump: The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.

[cut to studio]
BTC: I hate to say it, but this type of rhetoric is a little underwhelming coming from someone with the last name Trump. You want the lies to stop? Don't defame my reputation. Where's that special Trump touch? How about if the low-life scumbags perpetrating these lies don't cut it out in the next 24 hours?

[cut to video from CNN]
Host: A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. [reading Trump social media post]

[cut to studio]
BTC: See, that is a Trump response. I'm starting to think that Melania doesn't even have what it takes to carry their last name.

[cut to video]
Melania Trump: I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at a New York City party in 1998. This initial encounter with my husband is documented in a detail in my book, Melania.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Okay, scratch what I just said. Squeezing in a plug for your book during an address to the nation purporting to be in defense of victims. Oh, she has got the goods. I'm surprised she didn't whip out her own didn't know it merch and list it for sale on her website.

But the First Lady also wanted the world to know that she's not just going to war with any false accusations. She's taking on those fake images as well. Numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been calculating on social media for years now. Be cautious about what you believe. These images and stories are completely false.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Good for her for taking a stand. You know, if a bunch of trolls out there are going to circulate images online of Melania and Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, then they better damn well use the real ones. Like this one and this one and this one. [inset photos at parties]

I'll be honest, I don't even know what fake images she's talking about. Did she go online and see one picture of her and Epstein at a Coldplay concert and assume everyone else thought it was real? I continue to be dumbfounded as to why this address is even happening. Now, yes, Melania has appeared in photos with Epstein and Maxwell, and she had one email exchange with Maxwell herself, which she addressed today.

[cut to video]
Melania Trump: To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence.

[cut to studio]
BTC: I would actually agree. This is the email that Melania sent Maxwell. Dear G, How are you? Nice story about J meaning Jeffrey Epstein in New York magazine. You look great on the picture. I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you're back in New York. Have a great time. Love, Melania.

If you're looking to point to a correspondence between you and someone involved in a sex trafficking ring that absolves you of guilt, I'd say that is a fine example. Whereas this one, not so much. [inset image of Trump’s birthday card to Epstein]

So Melania, who to this day has not been accused of being an accomplice, gives a speech to the nation to say that she is not an accomplice to Epstein and Maxwell, apparently answering a question we didn't know we should be asking, but are suddenly now also asking. But she doesn't stop there.

[cut to video]
Melania Trump: Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone. Several prominent male executives resign from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. Of course, this doesn't amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Okay, I was joking before, but now I really believe that she just woke up from a coma. Congress needs to act. They literally passed a law that her husband signed and continues to violate. Of the 6 million Epstein files, 3 million of them have not been released. The DOJ released names of the victims while redacting names of the co-conspirators. Pam Bondi is refusing to testify. And just last week, the new attorney general said this.

[cut to video from Fox News]
Todd Blanche: To the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the of the past year of this justice department, it will should not be a part of anything going forward.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Don't you see what's happened here today? The entire administration killed the Epstein files, but Melania's speech resurrected it. It wasn't an act of politics. It was an act of God. But when it comes to my confusion as to why Melania chose to speak out today of all days, I take solace in the fact that I'm not alone.

[cut to video from CNN]
Kristen Holmes: These remarks kind of came out of the blue.

[cut to video from ABC News]
Karen Travers: This was not something that the First Lady's office had teed up or previewed in any way before she was giving those remarks. Just saying that she was coming out today at the White House to make an announcement.

[cut to video from ABC News]
Local Host: This one was unexpected.

[cut to video from CBS Evening News]
Reporter: Well, this really came out of left field.

[cut to video from ABC News]
Karen Travers: A lot more questions for the First Lady, for the White House. Why today? Why is she speaking about this now?

[cut to video from unknown source]
Host: Do we know where these lies or smears she's talking about comes from?

[cut to video from Fox News]
Jacqui Heinrich: This came out of left field for us here covering the White House.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Even Fox News had no fucking clue what was going on and their entire network resides inside the president's colon. You don't get closer to Donald Trump's thinking than being inside the guy and even they can't give you an answer.

You know, some might say that the truth behind why Melania decided to speak today would make a great documentary just in case Jeff Bezos has another cool $75 million lying around. But this is how the Trump White House rolls. From the outside, it might look sloppy, chaotic, disorganized, unprofessional, and ludicrously incompetent. But on the inside, each and every move is perfectly crafted in great detail.

[cut to video from MS NOW]
WH Reporter: They just got off a very quick call before he went to air with President Trump, who said he was in the middle of a war meeting and that he couldn't talk for very long and had to go, but that actually he had no prior knowledge to the topic that Melania Trump, his wife, was going to be touching upon today in his statement in her statement.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Oh, Donald Trump didn't know that Melania was giving that press conference. I think the First Lady might want to invest in her own permanent umbrella.

The reality is, if Melania's press conference did one thing today, it was highlight how incredibly corrupt her husband's administration and practically the entire Republican party has been this whole time. Melania thinks the lies need to stop. When is she going to tell this guy?

[cut to video]
Trump: That's just a hoax. The whole Epstein thing is a Democrat hoax.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Melania thinks the survivors need to have their voices heard. When is she going to tell this woman?

[cut to video from House Oversight Committee with Pam Bondi]
Jared Moskowitz: How many of you have reached out either individually or through a lawyer or representative to offer to provide testimony and evidence? [all survivors raise hands]

Moskowitz: All of them.

Moskowitz: And of those you of you all of you who have reached out, how many of you were denied or ignored by the Department of Justice? [all survivors raise hands]

Moskowitz: All of them.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Melania thinks justice needs to be served. When is she going to tell the Department of Justice?

[cut to video from CBS News]
Reporter: The Justice Department said today that Pam Bondi won't testify in the Jeffrey Epstein probe since she's no longer serving as attorney general.

[cut to studio]
BTC: I'm sorry, but Melania Trump suddenly calling attention to the Epstein files is like Ronald McDonald's wife coming out to warn us about the unhealthiness of fast food. We're quite aware, but the First Lady appears to be on a mission and can't be stopped.

[cut to video]
Melania Trump: Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes. And then her testimony should be permanently entered into the congressional record. Then and only then we will have the truth.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Wow. You know, regardless of how incredibly late to the game it is, this call to action by the First Lady of the United States is huge and it is going to create a giant problem for Donald Trump who has been trying to quash this Epstein scandal since he first took office. Because for him to ignore this would mean completely shutting down a powerful female voice.

[cut to video montage]
Trump: I think you are a terrible reporter.

Trump: You're a terrible person and a terrible reporter.

Trump: Quiet Piggy. You're the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place.

[cut to studio]
BTC: Well, this should be interesting.