A conservative commentator argued on "CNN This Morning" that Democrats are just as divided over the Jeffrey Epstein as Republicans — and he was immediately shut down.
Democrats have been forcing Republicans to confront the issue over and over before they leave Washington, D.C., for an early summer recess called by House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the president has been unable to change the conversation from his past association with the convicted sex abuser.
"That's a big if, right?" said host Erica Hill. "If there are credible allegations – there's no indication that there would be – but it does speak to the issue of, is there a crack here, right? Even in just the way that this has been handled and the president hasn't been able to turn the page."
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seaward argued that Trump had let down his supporters because he implicitly promised to reveal the findings of the Epstein investigation, which his MAGA base believed would expose the president's political enemies.
"He promised that he was going to do this on the campaign trail,' Seaward said. "This is one of the reasons why people voted for him, and most of his top lieutenants and his disciples around him, from FBI director to vice president, others promised also that they are for releasing these files, and so it feeds into another layer of hypocrisy from this administration – make a promise, do not deliver."
Conservative journalist Rob Bluey, however, pointed to reporting that showed some Democrats are less than enthusiastic to talk about Trump's ties to the disgraced financier.
"You obviously have [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries leaning all into this, and I thought it was interesting, last night Axios reported that not all Democrats in the House are necessarily wanting to go along with this and talk exclusively about Epstein over the August recess," Bluey said. "So the cracks are not necessarily just on the Republican side. I think some Democrats are questioning the strategy, as well."
Rachel Bade, the Washington bureau chief for Politico, immediately pushed back.
"I disagree with that," Bade said. "Look, I've talked to a lot of Democrats. I think that the strategy is not to exclusively talk about Epstein, right? It's to sort of use this as a way to poke at Republicans, and, I mean, it's smart, right? It exposes the rift. They effectively shut down the House and stopped Republicans from passing GOP bills. They take them off their messaging. They should be going home and talking about the 'big, beautiful bill' and selling that, because let's all be honest, the polling shows they do need to sell that bill. It's not doing well in terms of polling, and yet they're going to be asked over and over again, 'Are you with Trump on this' or 'are you going to release the files?'
"So this is a perfect opportunity for Democrats. It's exactly what they should be doing, and, no, they shouldn't be just talking about this in terms of politics, but I have heard people say that they think they can sort of tie these two narratives, right?"
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