Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson warned Wednesday evening on CNN that the Republican Party is destroying their brand with their mismanagement and apparent cover-up of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files review — an issue President Donald Trump has tried to dismiss in recent days by calling it "irrelevant" and a "hoax."
"I want to play some of what the president and and others around him, many of whom are in the administration, have said about this before for quite some time," said Anderson Cooper, playing an extensive list of clips of various Trump administration officials, like Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, saying the public deserves the truth on Epstein and it would be coming soon. "Gretchen, it's crazy. They ran on this. They've been talking about this. They're, they're the ones running the FBI now, and the Justice Department. It's remarkable to see what they said and what they're saying now."
"Exactly," said Carlson, who herself faced sexual harassment and won $20 million in a lawsuit against Fox News over it. "And I think that this is actually political suicide, not necessarily for Donald Trump, but as this story continues to grow without more information being given out. This is political suicide for the midterm elections."
Cooper then turned to CNN political analyst David Chalian. "They have done an effective job of trying to change the conversation. You know, there was sort of a storm about this weeks ago. And then, you know, a number of other stories, you know, as Gretchen said, this administration is very good at throwing out a lot of stuff that you sort of have to respond to and have to cover."
"There's no doubt about it," agreed Chalian. "I've never seen a politician have the ability that Donald Trump has to sort of program the conversation, as you say. But listen, as soon as Congress came back, remember, this is from members of his own party inside the House of Representatives. Some of his most stalwart supporters are at odds with him now. And that — until that gets resolved, this story will not go away. It will not be seen as a partisan hoax, the way he tried to portray it today, because it's broader than that in terms of not just Americans looking for answers, but politically, his own party is not satisfied."
Watch the video below or at the link here.