Melania Trump’s most trusted adviser says the first lady frantically denied any ties to Jeffrey Epstein in a surprise April address because she wanted to be a “champion” for the victims.
Marc Beckman, the first lady’s senior exclusive adviser, told Politico in a report published Friday that Trump’s decision to spontaneously reject any connection to the infamous sex criminal was less about her and more about empowering Epstein’s victims.
“It was about going on the record to talk about the fact that she wasn’t connected with, is not connected with, Jeffrey Epstein at all,” he told the outlet. “She wanted to be a champion, a leader for the victims, and then finally she called on Congress to give the victims the ability to go on the congressional record, sit in front of Congress if they want, and go on the record.”
Beckman, who also worked as a producer on the first lady’s eponymous vanity documentary, had previously launched a right-wing media blitz after the oddly timed address, trying to explain it away with a series of vague non-answers.
“First, enough is enough. This has been ongoing, and it’s time for the public to refocus their attention on what achievements our first lady has done,” the DMA United CEO told Fox & Friends on April 10.
Rather than answering why the first lady decided to publicly deny any alleged ties to the convicted sex offender at that particular moment, Beckman continually insisted on highlighting her achievements and denouncing the “lies and innuendos” about her.
“We as a society need to get back to respect, and certainly, our first lady, the first lady of the United States, deserves respect,” he told co-host Ainsely Earhardt. “When she’s out there working every single day for Americans, helping children, helping families, driving to make this country better, that’s what she deserves for people to pay attention to, not this nonsense.”
“If she can’t stick up for herself, if she can’t defend herself and make sure that her reputation is impeccable, who will do it?” Beckman added. “Nobody’s done it to date. All of this has been politicized. It’s been dragged through the media, and she’s ready to fight. She’s fought for herself.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump’s top aide also shared similar sentiments with Newsmax and the New York Post the same day, belaboring his point that “enough is enough.”
Trump, 56, summoned reporters to the White House on the afternoon of April 9, where she read a prepared statement denouncing any claims that she had ties to Epstein or his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The first lady defended her previous email correspondence with Maxwell, which was revealed in the Epstein files, as strictly “casual.”
President Donald Trump was apparently caught off guard by his wife’s planned address, he told MS NOW, though he confirmed that she had no ties to Epstein.
A former associate of the first lady, Amanda Ungaro, alleged in a taped recording that Trump had previously worked as an “escort” for Epstein and that was how she was introduced to Donald Trump. The first lady has denied those claims.
