GOP Senator's Epstein dodge fails as he aims for Obama and hits Republican icon

Sen. Thom Tillis's attempt to dodge questions on notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein saw him inadvertently throw a Republican president under the bus as he tried to blame former President Barack Obama.

Tillis (R-NC) faced questions on Epstein from MS NOW contributor Elise Jordan ahead of a pending vote to confirm acting Attorney Todd Blanche, who has faced criticism for his treatment of Epstein's survivors.

"Senator Tillis, you have been critical of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his conduct with the war in Iran, and the United States is facing a critical weapon shortfall," Jordan said. "You've said that you regret your vote for Hegseth, and now you're faced with a similar choice when it comes to Todd Blanche."

Jordan noted Blanche was recently short-tempered with survivors of Epstein's abuse, snapping "get to the point" at them, and has faced criticism for transferring Epstein's convicted accomplice to a different prison.

"Epstein victims were not satisfied by the meeting that they held with Todd Blanche, and they said that it was just to ‘check the box," she said. "Are you satisfied with how Blanche has handled the Epstein investigation, and do you think that it was right for Ghislaine Maxwell to be moved to a better security facility, prison?”

That's when Tillis tried to blame Obama.

”You know, since the Epstein revelations started in 2000, 2007, 2008, I haven't been satisfied with the Obama administration," he replied.

The latter years Tillis ticked off were ones former President George W. Bush held office — the first is when he was elected.

Jordon appeared stony-faced — apparently unaware of the gaffe.

Tillis went on to blame Trump and Biden — never mentioning the fact that he'd inadvertently called out Bush.

“I've been calling for releasing all the files since the revelations, since the revelations came forth," Tillis said. "I feel like it is questionable. I don't know why she got transferred. It makes no sense to me. But what I will tell you is that Todd Blanche is the first head of the DOJ that's ever met with the victims.”

After that meeting, Dani Bensky, surrounded by fellow survivors of the notorious sex trafficker, told reporters she was not happy with the treatment she received.

"He was very condescending, it was a lot of talking in circles, a lot of arguing semantics," she said. "A lot of getting to the core points that we needed answers to.”

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