With the suspected shooter who assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk having been turned in to authorities by his family, speculation is already flying about his ideology and motivations — but former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) has a blunt message for anyone trying to spin the case for political ends.

"If you’re trying to pretzel yourself into painting Tyler Robinson, a 22-year old, into a 'fascist' or 'leftist' model based on your rabid ideology, maybe you’re not seeing the bigger picture of what online radicalization is— because 'you' are the radicalized," said Riggleman, a moderate libertarian-leaning figure who in recent years became outspoken against the MAGA movement and advised the House January 6 Committee.

President Donald Trump's latest efforts to defuse the ongoing uproar over the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files, and his administration's refusal to provide the transparency they promised on the issue to a conspiracy-hungry base, stunned former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) as he analyzed the situation in an MSNBC panel on Wednesday evening.

This follows reporting that Vice President JD Vance was hosting a secret meeting on how best to disappear Trump's name from the Epstein files — widely speculated to be a key reason the administration doesn't want the files released in full — although the administration swiftly denied any such meeting was planned.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended President Donald Trump's conduct throughout the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files controversy, going so far as to claim with no evidence that Trump was an "FBI informant" against Epstein, and saying that he banished Epstein from Mar-a-Lago upon realizing his abuse of young girls — which is contradicted by the public timeline.

"He's not saying that what Epstein did was a hoax, it's a terrible, unspeakable evil. He believes that himself. When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago. He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down. The president knows, and has great sympathy for the women who suffered these unspeakable harms. It's detestable to him. He and I have spoken about this as recently as 24 hours ago."

Attorney General Pam Bondi could be on the chopping block as President Donald Trump and his inner circle scramble for any way to contain the fallout of their base's revolt over their delay and obfuscation in turning over the Jeffrey Epstein case files — but it won't be enough, former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) told MSNBC on Friday evening.

"Here's the thing. You know what they say, far-right conspiracy theorists: nothing to hide, nothing to fear," said Riggleman, a frequent critic of the MAGA movement. "So right now my question is, why don't they — why didn't Congress, just like, you know, Comer did with Hunter Biden, why wouldn't they want to call [Epstein associate Ghislaine] Maxwell to actually talk about the 50th birthday? Why wouldn't Congress want to have her to come there? I mean, you want the facts out, right, Mike? That's what we want to do, right?"

Former Tea Party Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) cautioned President Donald Trump that he is engaging in a dangerous dance with his more ardent supporters.

It prompted MSNBC host Katy Tur to ask a panel of experts, "How long does this survive? How much damage is it going to do to the MAGA base? And does that damage extend to Donald Trump?"

Vice President JD Vance got a round of roasting on MSNBC by former Reps. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) and Max Rose (D-NY) for his effort to sell President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," even while he tiptoes around making any mention of the fact that the legislation — which he cast the tiebreaking vote for in the Senate — cuts around $1 trillion from Medicaid and provides little tax benefit to the voters he is trying to motivate.

"What I ask every single person to do is take what I've said — of course, go and do the research yourself, but go and talk to your neighbors, go and talk to your friends about what this bill does for American citizens, because we don't want to wake up in a year and a half and give the Democrats power back," said Vance at a recent event in Pennsylvania.