Trump Hangs Up on CNN After Epstein Questions, Tells GOP to Pivot to Obama: A Closer Look

Trump Hangs Up on CNN After Epstein Questions, Tells GOP to Pivot to Obama: A Closer Look

-Donald Trump hung up on CNN after they asked him questions
about Jeffrey Epstein. And now we know why
he’s been freaking out so much about the Epstein files. The Department of Justice
told him in May that he’s in the Epstein files. But don’t worry,
he’s got a brilliant new ploy to get himself out of trouble — Yell more about Obama. For more on this,
it’s time for “A Closer Look.” For weeks, Trump has
been desperately trying to change the topic
from Epstein. Earlier this week,
he explained to Republicans during a meeting
at the White House how they should pivot
from Epstein questions to a different topic. -Remember this — Obama
cheated on the election and we have it cold, hard blue. And it’s getting even more so
because the stuff that’s coming in
is not even believable. So — And you should mention
that every time they give you a question
that’s not appropriate. Just say, “Oh, by the way,
Obama cheated on the election.” -It’s like watching a magician
explain a magic trick, and it’s also a [bleep] trick. “So first you throw
down the smoke pellet. Then you got to run away as fast
as you can.” But Trump seemed confident
that this tactic would work. -Every time they give you a
question that’s not appropriate, just say, “Oh, by the way,
Obama cheated on the election.” You’ll watch
the camera turn off instantly. -Yeah,
but you’re on camera right now. You just said it and the camera
didn’t turn off. The camera never turns off,
of course, when you’re talking, unless it’s C-SPAN
and the AA batteries run out. We’ve been living through 10
years of nonstop Trump coverage. And, guys, it sucks. The only way
it could be worse is if you had a [bleep] GoPro
attached to your head. Trump’s like
that annoying friend who’s always streaming live
on Instagram. And you guys, that’s not
what Instagram is for. I open up Instagram
for three reasons — To post a pic that makes my life
look cooler than it is, to get jealous
when a friend posts a pic that makes their life
look cooler than it is, and to see if the For You page recommends any
AI-generated lingerie models. I didn’t search for it.
The algorithm served it to me. That said, her name is Sonia and I know I’m going to get
in trouble for saying this, she gets me. We have such great banter. Like the other day
I messaged her and I said, “Did you like last night’s
‘Closer Look?'” And she said,
“Your content is inspiring!” And it’s just, like, nice
when people are specific. And I know you’re
all going to say, “Don’t give her your
Social Security number,” but let me stop you because
it’s too late, I already did. Anyway, Trump’s been
instructing Republicans to change the subject.
It’s a transparent gimmick. And now he’s got his intelligence director
fully on board. -Trump has been trying to draw
attention away from Epstein by going after President Obama. Today, Director of National
Security Tulsi Gabbard joined the White House
press briefing to repeat a conspiracy theory
promoted by the president that President Obama ordered
an investigation into Russia and the 2016 election
in order to hurt Trump. -The expressed intent
and what followed afterward can only be described
as a years-long coup and a treasonous conspiracy
against the American people, our republic,
and an attempt to undermine President Trump’s
administration. -Here’s my only reaction
to that. Whatever’s in
those Epstein files must be really [bleep] bad. They must be finding
so many mentions of Trump, they’re gonna
have to change the name to The Trump Files
featuring Jeffrey Epstein. They’re so desperate
to distract everyone they’re claiming
that Barack Obama is guilty of treasonous conspiracy and
leading a coup against Trump. Barack Obama? The guy couldn’t even get away
with smoking a cigarette in his own house. I honestly think we’re one more
Epstein story away from Trump just announcing
that UFOs are real. Be saying like, “Aliens exist.
They live here on Earth. In fact, one of them
used to be my lawyer.” Of course, these attempts
to distract keep falling flat because new information
about Trump’s ties to Epstein keep coming out. -We do have
some new reporting into CNN. And this is — Well, it’s a story
from The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal
is reporting that in May, Attorney General Pam Bondi
and her deputy informed the president
at a meeting in the White House that his name was
in the Epstein files. This is reporting now
in The Wall Street Journal. We should note that CNN has
not independently confirmed that information. -Yes. Very important. And obviously,
in which context, right? That’s really the question.
-Exactly. In what context did
his name come up in those files? -That’s right.
-Yes. The context matters. For example,
maybe Jeffrey Epstein kept a list of innocent people
who did nothing wrong. Maybe Epstein had a little
black book full of names labeled “People who refuse to
participate in sex trafficking but still want to come
to my island for snorkeling.” Also, of course
he’s in the files. He knew Epstein for 15 years. Epstein called him
his closest friend. I have no idea if Trump
committed a crime with Epstein, but the reason
we’re talking about this at all is because Republicans have hyped it up for years
thinking it would damage their political opponents. -Folks, please keep
your eye on this case. I can’t emphasize to you enough. This Epstein thing is more
than — there’s more than meets the eye there. I know a lot of people
want to make this thing go away. Who’s on the Epstein tapes,
folks? Who’s on those tapes?
Who’s in those black books? Why have they been hiding it? -That’s Dan Bongino, who is currently
the deputy director of the FBI. So when you say,
“Why have they been hiding it,” the “they” is you now, bro. These guys are going
to have to start doing conspiracy theory podcasts
about themselves. “Why am I hiding
the Epstein files? Why am I trying
to make it go away? Who got to me?” MAGA is suddenly changing
their tune. They went from saying
it’s a cover-up to “Actually, there are
good reasons for the cover-up.” -You’ve got innocent people
on those flight logs that flew. President Trump has admitted
he flew on those flights, and dozens of other Americans,
I’m sure, rode. I know a lot
of wealthy people, Jake. And they fly on these dadgum
planes, private planes. If one’s broke down, they say, “Hey, I got a seat
on this guy’s plane. You want to ride with us
to New York?” And that’s what happens. -Oh, I see. So someone’s
private plane might break down, and then Epstein would give
them a ride, and then, I guess, write their name
and number in his black book. ‘Cause you know
how you want to keep in touch with everyone on your flight. “Hey, Dave,
it’s Jeff from the plane. Just wanted to see if you
enjoyed ‘Remember the Titans.'” The only thing about that story
that rings true to me is that Trump’s plane
broke down constantly, and he was always trying
to bum a ride. “Hey, Jeff, it’s Don.
Yeah, she broke down again. Yeah. Same old problem. No gas.” So it turns out
Trump has known for months that his name is
in the Epstein files, which certainly undercuts
his response to this question from just over a week ago. -On what? On the — On what?
On what subject? Okay. A very, very quick briefing.
Yeah. No, no. She’s, uh — She’s given us just
a very quick briefing. And in terms of the credibility
of the different things that they’ve seen. And I would say that, you know, these files were made up
by Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up
by the Biden info– you know. -No, I don’t know. In the span of 30 seconds,
he went from, “My name’s not in the files” to
“It was a very quick briefing” to “They were made up by Obama”
to not saying words at all. Also, I love the move at the top
when he says “On what subject?” Like you don’t [bleep] know. What other subjects are people
asking you about these days? I’m surprised he didn’t ask
which Epstein. “Brian Epstein,
Beatles manager? I don’t — I don’t think
I’d be in the files, but you can certainly
file me away as a fan. I’m a big fan.” So clearly that was a lie. In fact, it turns out
the Trump administration had FBI agents scouring
the files around the clock for any mention of his name. -We were contacted by
a highly credible whistleblower, describing Attorney General’s
pressure on FBI to quickly review and produce
more Epstein documents as promised. For two weeks in late March, the FBI assigned
approximately 1,000 personnel in its information management
division and hundreds
of additional agents from the New York field office to work 24-hour shifts to review and produce
more Epstein documents. These officials were told
to “flag any records in which
President Trump was mentioned.” -Well, at least Trump kept
his promise to create more jobs, specifically jobs for FBI agents to look for Trump’s name
in the Epstein files. Imagine getting that assignment. You sign up
to work for the nation’s top law enforcement agency thinking you’re going to do
cool stuff like bust a drug ring or take down mobsters, and instead they give you a big
old stack of Excel spreadsheets and a highlighter and tell you
to stay up for 24 hours straight looking for Donald Trump’s name
in the Epstein files. Also, it’s not my job
to allocate the FBI’s resources, but isn’t that a better job
for Command-F? [ Laughter ] It’s no surprise Trump’s name
is all over those files. They were good friends
for years. In fact, CNN just unearthed
new photos of Epstein at Trump’s wedding in 1993. And when they asked Trump
about it, he was not pleased. -The friendship
between President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
continues to be scrutinized, and tonight, CNN has exclusively obtained
new photos of Jeffrey Epstein at Trump’s wedding
to Marla Maples. -So you actually called
President Trump. You called him directly
to ask him about this. -Yeah, we were not
on the phone very long. I think our call was
about 30 seconds or so. But when I asked him
about the wedding photo, he said — he sort of paused
for a second and then said, “You’ve got to be kidding me,”
before calling CNN fake news and then hanging up on me. -Wow, that’s a big — This has
to be the first time in history Trump has ever been the one
to end a phone call. I mean, this is a guy who used
to call into “Fox & Friends” and rant interrupted
for so long, the hosts would just sit
frozen on the couch like they were trapped
in a “Saw” movie. Also, Trump forgot
to use his brilliant checkmate. Remember, he said to do this. -Just say, “Oh, by the way,
Obama cheated on the election.” You’ll watch
the camera turn off instantly. -The camera didn’t turn off, but it sounds
like the phone sure did. This story is
yet another example of the MAGA fever swamp
colliding with reality. For years, they hyped up
the Epstein conspiracy, thinking it would damage
their political opponents. They thought Trump was the hero, but now he’s the one
doing the cover-up. Trump’s in a jam, and he thinks
he can get out of it by just yelling his safe word. -Obama. Obama. Obama. -This has been “A Closer Look.” [ Cheers and applause ] Aaaah!

Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump hanging up on CNN after they asked him questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

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Trump Hangs Up on CNN After Epstein Questions, Tells GOP to Pivot to Obama: A Closer Look
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