'Are you a bad or stupid Republican?' Erin Burnett confronts MAGA rep on Trump’s warning

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) was confronted by CNN's Erin Burnett about his party's divide over the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files on Wednesday evening — and refused to let him change the topic.

Davidson did not sign the bipartisan discharge petition to force the administration to release the files, which has now acquired enough signatures to move forward, but he has stated he will vote in favor of the final resolution to get the files released.

"Congressman, I want to ask you about something Trump posted today," said Burnett. "It was a warning to Republicans who plan to do what you do, to vote yes. On that release, he said 'The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.' So, Congressman, an odd question to ask you in a professional interview like this, but I guess I have to do it: are you a very bad or stupid Republican?"

"Well, look, you want to change the subject from the Democrat shutdown, and let's not bury the lede here," said Davidson. "Democrats kept the government shut down for six weeks over status quo funding. There wasn't like Republicans loaded this bill up with Republican policy agendas. We have our agenda, and we certainly want to do that. But we wanted to have the appropriations debate with the government open. And so, you know, that's the story tonight. And there will be a story about the Epstein files—"

"Okay, I will disagree with you," cut in Burnett. "And just since you're coming on my program, I would like an answer, if I could, to the question, right? Which is you said, if I'm not mistaken, that you're going to vote for full release of the Epstein files. Trump says only a very bad or stupid Republican would fall into that trap."

"Well, look, the Epstein list at this point is becoming like Schrodinger's list, right? It's like it's simultaneously nothing and simultaneously everything. It can't be both," said Davidson. "And that's why [Attorney General] Pam Bondi needs to come here and explain herself. That's one of the hearings that we were supposed to have in October, and hopefully that will get rescheduled soon and say, how is it that you can do binders full of documents to selected journalists early in the administration and then, you know, months later, come out and say, well, there's nothing there. How is that?"

"I haven't signed the discharge petition because I do support the administration doing everything they can, but they're going to lose this fight," Davidson added. "They've already lost it on Massie's discharge petition. And I think that was unnecessary. They're working to disclose what they can. But the point is, we don't need another thing for Congress just to fuel outrage on."

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