Media analysts have been left stunned over first lady Melania Trump’s surprise press conference, where she denied any connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and breathed new life into the story.
Pundits were still scratching their heads Friday morning over what could have prompted Thursday’s extraordinary White House press conference, where the first lady called on Congress to invite survivors to give testimony and denied knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of young women and girls.
The first lady, who has been pictured with Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in the past, said she “never had a relationship” with the pair, and that she was invited to the same parties as them “from time to time” in New York City and Palm Beach.
“The idea that she did not know him and that she had no relation… it was just beyond bizarre,” MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough reacted on Friday’s Morning Joe.
“And all of the reporting is that the people that were in the White House briefing room yesterday was absolutely stunned,” he continued. “And stunned, in part, that it came out of nowhere, and secondly, that she would actually pretend that she didn’t know who he was or that she had no relationship with him, or they had no close relationship with him.”
Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski discussed an email from the first lady to Maxwell in 2002 that was signed, “Love, Melania,” which Melania Trump said “cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence.”
“That is quite casual,” Scarborough said. “Actually, it’s not. Doesn’t sound casual. And again, everybody’s waiting for another shoe to drop. I don’t know if it will or not, but again, the timing of that was so strange…”
On MSNOW’s The 11th Hour, Stephanie Ruhle appeared incredulous Thursday night after rolling a clip from the first lady’s statement. “Weird, right? The first lady went on to call on Congress to hold hearings where Epstein survivors can share their stories on the congressional record,” she said. “Like, WHAT?”
The outlet earlier reported that President Donald Trump said he was not aware of the first lady’s statement ahead of time, while a White House official said many staffers were “caught off guard.”
The timing of the first lady’s statement has baffled correspondents. As the first lady finished her statement, reporters shouted after her, “Why now?!”
Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich was also among those trying to make sense of the first lady’s comments.
“We’ve been trying to understand why she made it today, if there was something that she is reacting to that might already be in the news that has upset her, or if there’s a story that’s yet to come out, that’s about to drop that she wanted to get ahead of,” Heinrich said Thursday, adding that it “did feel like it came out of left field for us.”
She continued, saying that she and others at the network are “still trying to figure out why she made this statement today.”
“I’ve called every contact in my phone, including the president, and not gotten any answers,” she said.
Marc Beckman, who serves as a senior adviser to the first lady, told the New York Post that she “spoke out now because enough is enough.”
Beckman said that the “lies” about the first lady’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell “must stop.”
“It is time for the public and media to focus on her incredible achievements as first lady, the lives she has positively impacted, and her commitment to our nation,” he said.
The first lady’s remarks follow the release of millions of documents stemming from federal investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking, while the Department of Justice and Trump administration officials endure parallel investigations from members of Congress into the government’s handling of the probes.
Under legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump last November, the Justice Department was ordered to publicly release all files connected to investigations into Epstein by December 19.
The Justice Department has since published millions of documents and images connected to the predator, despite missing deadlines for the full disclosure of all materials in the possession of federal law enforcement, which has developed into a political liability for the president and his allies.
Alex Woodward contributed to this report
