Donald Trump wants to shrug the Epstein scandal under the rug, but the Americans won’t let him do that. The president who promised to release Epstein files during his presidential campaign has now conveniently called the entire controversy a Democratic “hoax.”
His statement has been upsetting and “beyond frustrating” for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and their families. Relatives of one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most outspoken victims have reacted to Trump’s latest remarks while warning him that the heat surrounding the issue won’t die down.
Trump calls the Epstein files a hoax while 100 survivors testify in front of the Capitol. What a sick, guilty man. The survivors deserve justice.
pic.twitter.com/iGXrprgnur— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) September 3, 2025
Virginia Roberts Giuffre spent her life seeking justice for the abuse she endured at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and Prince Andrew. After she allegedly died by suicide at the age of 41 this April, her family has continued her battle for justice. On Wednesday, her sister-in-law Amanda Roberts told CNN’s Erin Burnett, “Forty-five minutes ago you’ve heard from every survivor saying, ‘This isn’t a hoax, the American people know that this isn’t a hoax,’ so I think we’re all tired of the distractions, the switch-and-bait [sic].”
“I think we’re over that part, and there’s just this desire that there’s an ugly stain that maybe he wants to disappear and go away, but it’s not going to. It’s not going to go away,” she further said as the victims of the late convict traveled to Washington DC on Wednesday to demand the release of the Epstein files and share their harrowing stories.
“This is relevant, this is real,” Amanda pressed while reminding the administration, “We are talking about human lives; they were children, and they are asking for the justice that they deserve. They are asking that of their leader of their nation.”
The Epstein controversy has caused cracks within the MAGA circle. Many of Trump’s allies and supporters weren’t happy when the DOJ announced that Epstein client list doesn’t exist and no further documents in the case would be released.
Democrat Ro Khanna, Republican Representative Thomas Massie, and Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene stood along the survivors of abuse and held a press conference demanding the release of infamous files.
According to Daily Beast, “Khanna and Massie have led a bipartisan push for the files to be released” as they have reportedly secured enough Republican signatures to force a vote. In response, the White House issued a warning that if they continue to push for the release of the Epstein files, the President would consider it a “very hostile act.”
Massie said that the survivors have decided to compile their own list, but they can’t release it as “they‘re going to be sued into homelessness. They will be attacked. They will have death threats.”
Thomas Massie on the Epstein Files: “This is not a hoax.” pic.twitter.com/NmvCM9Vu11
— Young Americans for Liberty (@YALiberty) September 3, 2025
The Republican further said that he and Greene have volunteered to help the survivors by planning to “read that list on the floor of the House of Representatives, because our founders put into the Constitution a speech or debate immunity, which says that we can‘t be prosecuted for what we say on the floor of the house.”
When Trump was asked if his friends and donors were implicated in the Epstein files, he tried to dodge the question by saying, “I think we should talk about the greatness of our country and the success that we are having.”
“We’re having the most successful eight months of any president ever, and that’s what I want to talk about and should be talking about. Not the Epstein hoax,” he added.
Lisa Phillips, another survivor of Epstein, told CNN that it was “shocking and upsetting” to hear the President’s response. She clarified that the survivors aren’t targeting Trump but were “fed up and wanting answers.”
Epstein survivor Haley Robson calls out Donald Trump for referring to this story as a hoax, and demands to be humanized. pic.twitter.com/QAw6REineM
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 3, 2025
Massie told CNN‘s Kaitlan Collins, “I think it‘s disrespectful to call it a hoax. This is not a hoax. Not at all. And it‘s not going to go away.”
“If the president wants to highlight the things that he‘s trying to do in the White House, then he should just call for the vote and release all of these files, and then he can move on. But they want to drag this out,” he added.
