Melania Trump is having what you might call a rare week of public victory laps. First, Democratic strategist James Carville hit delete on parts of his own podcast episode that had hinted at a connection between the former first lady and Jeffrey Epstein. Then The Daily Beast quietly took down a similar article. The common factor was a little nudge from Melania’s lawyer, though “nudge” in this case probably looked more like a formal letter written on expensive stationery.
At the start of Thursday’s episode of his Politics War Room podcast, Carville opened with an apology. “After the episode, we received a letter from Melania Trump’s lawyer. He took issue with our title of one of those YouTube videos from that episode and a couple of comments I made about the first lady,” Carville said.
He explained that his team looked into the complaints, removed the YouTube video, and edited out the disputed comments. “I also take back these statements and apologize,” he added, proving that sometimes in politics, walking things back is a full cardio workout.
The vanished YouTube video had been titled “The Epstein Connection Trump & Melania.” It is now unavailable, replaced in the digital ether by Melania’s post on X showing a screenshot from the removed clip with a big red X over it and Carville’s apology pasted alongside. That post had been liked 17,000 times by Friday morning, which is a solid engagement rate for a court-of-public-opinion victory.
A spokesperson for Melania’s office told The Independent, “First Lady Melania Trump’s attorneys are actively ensuring immediate retractions and apologies by those who spread malicious, defamatory falsehoods. The true account of how the First Lady met President Trump is in her best-selling book, Melania.” In other words, if you want the official version, you will have to buy the book.
This is actually Melania’s second media takedown in as many weeks. The Daily Beast also received a letter from her lawyer over its own Epstein-related piece. That article is now gone, replaced with an editor’s note explaining that the headline and framing were challenged and that the outlet “apologizes for any confusion or misunderstanding.”
All this is happening against the backdrop of the never-ending Epstein conversation, which was reignited after the Justice Department released a July 6 memo. The memo concluded there was no reason for further investigation, said Epstein’s death was suicide, and repeated that there is no evidence of a so-called “client list.” Many were disappointed, having expected explosive revelations. Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously said she had a “truckload” of information and teased the idea of a list sitting on her desk. In February she released “Phase 1” of the Epstein files, which turned out to be mostly information the public already knew.
Calls for more transparency have come from both Trump supporters and members of Congress. Donald Trump had been friendly with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s before the two had a falling out. In 2019, after Epstein’s arrest, Trump said they had not spoken in 15 years and referred to Epstein as “a creep.” He later claimed he ended the friendship after Epstein “stole” young female employees from Mar-a-Lago. A club member told the Miami Herald Epstein was kicked out in 2007 after harassing the daughter of a member.
For now, Melania is sticking to her playbook. Get a letter out fast, get the retraction, post the win online, and let the likes roll in.