‘The View’ Hosts Torch Trump & Press Secretary Over Epstein Reaction

The hosts of The View were not impressed by the White House’s reaction to the release of emails between Jeffrey Epstein and various individuals, particularly when it came to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt‘s words to the press about Donald Trump‘s position on the potential release of other files in the case.

After reviewing footage of her presser — in which she claimed Trump’s summoning of Republicans like Lauren Boebert, who were voting to release the files, to the Situation Room with top administration officials to discuss it, was “transparency” — the panelists spent two segments talking about it.

“No,” Whoopi Goldberg, who was celebrating her birthday on the show, said in response to Leavitt’s remarks.

The group then reviewed footage of Republican leaders’ response to Trump’s actions on the matter, with one calling it a “self-inflicted wound by the White House,” another saying “they are going to lose this fight,” and one even suggesting that the party’s position is, “Trump will protect you if you vote the wrong way… if you vote to cover up for pedophiles, you’ve got cover in a Republican primary.”

Goldberg then framed the discussion by saying, “So now You Know Who [Trump] has not been accused of any wrongdoing and denies any knowledge of Epstein’s alleged crimes, but is there a clear fracture in the party?”

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Sara Haines, though, rejected that framework right away, saying, “When you say is there a fracture in the party, this isn’t about parties. It is a crime. It was literally a crime, and the amount of emails that were released — so Democrats released three yesterday; a couple hours later, Republicans released 22,000 to flood the zone — good luck getting through that reading material.”

She then went on to point to the Situation Room meeting, saying, “This is never used for something like this. This is national security, secret, secret military operations, classified briefings, crisis management… They called them into there and then proceeded to bring a couple of Republicans that were going to vote to release the files. Now, what the hell are they hiding? Because as Karoline Leavitt said it herself, so far the emails have not been that incriminating of Donald Trump. But there’s definitely more in there.” She then reiterated her previous theory that it’s billionaires who are being protected by those opposing the release of the files. “It’s not even about Donald Trump that I want to see these files. They absolutely have to show us what they’re all hiding, and it’s billionaires. There’s a lot of money behind this scandal.”

Ana Navarro then spoke to say, “This is white, rich, powerful entitled men protecting other white rich powerful entitled men, men who thought they could get away with anything and for decades did.”

“We have failed the victims of Jeffrey Epstein,” she then said. “We as a country, our legal system, our institutions, our leaders, we have failed those victims time and time again… Anybody who votes against releasing these files, that’s going to be a stain on your personal character for the rest of your life.” She went on to say that the emails that have been released implicate a former Bill Clinton administration official and added, “Who cares? A rich powerful man.”

“Stop putting your partisan hats on, put your moral compass and your human hat on,” Navarro insisted.

After a commercial break, the group returned to continue the discussion, with Alyssa Farah Griffin getting her turn to weigh in: “Listen, there was so much to unpack from this. I wasn’t even sure where to begin, but one thing that stood out to me is how the White House has handled this Epstein saga from day one. If you’re somebody who is skeptical of Donald Trump’s involvement… they’re denying that he is, so their actions should match that, and it feels like every day he makes them look more guilty.”

Griffin then called the Situation Room meeting “unheard of” and said, “The reason that they were there is because there have been four Republicans who have held firm with outside pressure to release these Epstein files, and I want to shout them out: Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Nancy Mace. I don’t agree with them on everything, but they have been firm on this, despite the pressure to take their names off the petition, and I actually believe that when this comes to the floor for a vote, more Republicans will ultimately vote for it because this is going to follow them in the midterm, and it’s going to follow their conscience.”

“This may not impugn Donald Trump. It very well may not, but this is about right and wrong for the victims and for the women,” she continued. “If there’s nothing to hide, release it all, match transparency as the White House said. Now is your time to put your money where your mouth is.”

Sunny Hostin then pointed to the text of the emails themselves, which she found “gross” and “disgusting,” and pointed to the one indicating Trump “knew about the girls.” She then questioned whether the measure, if it passes through the House, will also succeed in the Senate and then be signed by Trump.

“I think that more Republicans in the House will vote for it. I think if the Senate takes it up that it will pass the Senate, so it will go to the president’s desk,” Griffin predicted.

The View, Weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC