President Donald Trump lashed out over the ongoing release of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files, calling the whole thing a Democratic hoax in a Truth Social post on Friday evening — despite the fact that he signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law, and that every Republican in Congress except for one voted for it.
"The Dems are the ones who worked with Epstein, not the Republicans. Release all of their names, embarrass them, and get back to helping our Country!" wrote Trump. "The Radical Left doesn’t want people talking about TRUMP & REPUBLICAN SUCCESS, only a long ago dead Jeffrey Epstein - Just another Witch Hunt!!!"
This rant did not go over well with commenters on social media.
"President Trump is once again referring to the Epstein files matter as a Democratic hoax," wrote Yashar Ali of HuffPost. "The reason the Epstein files matter is such a major issue is because his top allies made it so during the campaign and promised that, if he won, the files would be released. Some of the people who voted for him get very angry when he calls it a hoax. Also, it’s worth noting this would have wrapped up long ago had his administration not repeatedly promised things and then walked them back."
"It’s kind of incredible trump has had such a 180 on the Epstein files," wrote political commentator Molly Jong-Fast.
"The president signed the bill into law which set this into motion," wrote Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News.
"And he’s off again blaming someone else, pathetic empty vessel," wrote Irish public relations executive Greg Canty.
"A million more passes of Epstein files, and they’re all fake? That’s a whole lot of hoaxin’," wrote independent journalist Michael Dominowski.
"He has attacked Venezuela, and it didn’t drown the Epstein files," wrote Wall Street banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. "He bombed Nigeria yesterday, and still hasn’t been able to overshadow the Epstein scandal. And all that was after Government shutdown and national guard deployments didn’t help him bury this Epstein story. He’s panicking!"
"Here’s an easy way for DOJ to cut time redacting the Epstein files: waive any claims that information in the files is privileged," wrote former federal prosecutor Kristy Greenberg. "Stop hiding behind attorney/client, deliberative process, and work product privileges. Protect the victims. Release the rest of the files."