MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes slammed Vice President JD Vance with a blistering comeback after the two argued online about Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday book and whether the president’s name was included in it.
Hayes bit back at Vance’s earlier X post, which criticized The Wall Street Journal’s damning report about Trump’s contribution to Epstein’s birthday book and called the reporting “absurd.”
“If you find it ‘absurd’ that Donald Trump is writing cryptic poems and lewd sketches to Jeffrey Epstein, I really suggest you do a little googling about your boss!” Hayes wrote on X.
Hayes also criticized Vance for saying that the “contention” is that it’s “bogus for the WSJ to publish a hit piece without showing us the letter.”
“In point of fact the contention isn’t about journalistic process and the lawsuit clearly isn’t,” Hayes shot back, referring to Trump’s $10 billion libel lawsuit against The Journal. “Trump called the letter ‘fake’ and sued for defamation. Like you, I’d love to see the book produced, which is what you’re calling for. We’re in agreement.”
Frustration over the hidden evidence that might tie Trump to Epstein has mounted since the president refused to release files on the late sex offender, who committed suicide in 2019. Things grew even more complicated when The Journal and The New York Times published reports about an alleged birthday book, with the Times showcasing an introductory letter of the book from Epstein’s co-partner Ghislaine Maxwell. The report also asserted that Trump’s name appeared on a list of people who participated in the collection.
Last week, The Journal also reported that Trump had signed a bizarre and sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for the book, written in the outline of a naked woman.
“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” Trump claimed at the time. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
Vance also called the story “complete and utter bulls--t.”
Hayes scoffed at Vance’s vehement dismissals, asking whether the contention is that “the book is entirely fake? Or Trump being a contributor is fake, or all that is real but someone created a totally fake letter and stuck it in the real book?”
Vance then grew defensive.
“I have no idea if the book exists—WSJ won’t show it to us. I have no idea if the letter exists—WSJ won’t show it to us,” he posted on X. “What I find absurd is the idea that Donald Trump was writing poems to Epstein, and I find it equally absurd that a major American paper would attack the President of the United States without revealing the basis for the attack.”
He added that The Journal will likely “dribble little details out for days or weeks in an effort to assassinate the president’s character.”
“They won’t show us this book or allow us to refute it until they’ve wrung every bit of fake news out of the story,” he added.
The Journal reported that other contributors to the book included former President Bill Clinton, former Epstein and Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz, billionaire Leon Black, fashion designer Vera Wang, media tycoon Mort Zuckerman, and ex-Victoria’s Secret CEO Leslie Wexner.
Brad Edwards, a lawyer who has represented over 200 of Epstein’s victims, told MSNBC Wednesday that “multiple” victims spoke about the birthday book and that its existence is an “absolute fact.”
