House Speaker Mike Johnson gave a confusing defense of Donald Trump on Sunday as he tried to explain the president’s involvement in new Epstein file revelations.
Johnson told NBC’s Meet the Press that Trump has “never had any concern” about making the Epstein materials public—something moderator Kristen Welker pointed out, noting that Trump had previously called the files a “Democratic hoax” to prevent their release.
“Well, he—he—what he said specifically was that the hoax was Democrats trying to turn this into a political issue and use it against him,” Johnson stammered. “That was wrong.”
This comes after a new batch of Epstein files was released on Friday, showing that several women accused Trump of sexual abuse, which he denies.
Earlier in the interview, Welker asked Johnson if he had any “outstanding questions” about Trump’s relationship with the convicted sex offender, especially with the new allegations.
“I do not. I have spoken to the president privately and personally many times, and he has spoken very openly and candidly to the public,” Johnson said. He says the same things privately that he does publicly. He’s never had any concern about that.”
Johnson dismissed the claims by painting Trump as a whistleblower who stood up to Epstein and helped bring him down.
“Remember, President Trump was one of the first who spoke out and he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago, off the property, because he heard of some of the various things he was engaged in,” he said.
Johnson then repeated: “He’s never had any concern about that at all.”
The House speaker has faced criticism for causing “political pain” by delaying a vote on the Epstein files for months.
New concerns about a cover-up arose this week after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said only half of the files would be released—and that the Department of Justice had already “completed” its review.
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