TV's Biggest Stars Break Networks' Wall of Silence on Epstein-Trump Tapes

Two of television's biggest names broke their networks' days-long silence over bombshell tapes revealed by the Daily Beast of Jeffrey Epstein discussing his relationship with Donald Trump.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel both spoke about their shock at the footage, with the late-night host complaining that other networks hadn't covered it widely.

A tiny excerpt of the tapes was first published last Thursday by author Michael Wolff, and on Saturday the Daily Beast published recordings in which Epstein made extraordinary claims about his longtime friend.

The convicted pedophile hinted that he was familiar with the West Wing. He claimed that Trump liked to cheat on his best friends, that Trump first slept with Melania Trump on Epstein's “Lolita Express plane,” called Trump a serial cheater who bragged about “fucking black girls,” and claimed without evidence that Trump had had an affair in the White House. The tapes were recorded in a federal prison cell two years before Epstein's death, when he spoke to Wolff as a source for his international bestseller. Fire and fury. Wolff said Epstein showed him a cache of pictures of Trump with topless young women on his lap.

Such dramatic claims about a presidential candidate's character on the eve of a campaign would normally be immediately picked up by major television networks, especially given the light they shed on Trump's largely unexplored relationship with one of America's most notorious sex offenders.

But instead they were greeted with silence, despite being singled out by leading Democrats, including Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), a frequent guest on CNN and MSNBC, who posted on X: “Trump is all over the Epstein files. “

The wall of silence continued until the eve of the election, when first MSNBC's Maddow and then ABC's Kimmel spoke about her on Monday night.

On MSNBC, Maddow listed what she called “October surprises” and compared the tape to the revelation that Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley said Trump was a straight-up fascist Textbook The Iowa poll showed Harris with a three-point lead in the deep red state. Both were widely reported on liberal-leaning MSNBC and other networks.

The Beast can reveal that Maddow spoke out despite a “standards” order from NBC News not to report on the tapes. The broadcaster's “standards” department had warned its staff that the tapes were “DNU,” meaning “Do Not Use,” and said they could not be mentioned until “an attempt was made to use the entire, unedited version.” Listen to the version of the recording”. to notice what was left out.” Wolff said he had 100 hours of footage.

Notably, MSNBC has not yet posted the segment in which Maddow talks about the tapes on X on Tuesday.

On ABC, Kimmel, who is not bound by news standards, spoke freely about his shock at the recording and hinted at the silence that surrounded the Beast's bombshell.

“We heard a bombshell audio recording of Jeffrey Epstein saying he was Trump's 'closest friend' and telling a bunch of crazy stories. “It barely moves the needle,” Kimmel said. “Remember when Mitt Romney went down because He set up a dog carrier on the roof of his car? We just watched 100 hours of Jeffrey Epstein saying he and Trump were best friends; I didn’t even get a notification about it on my phone.”

Wolff gave up in a post I say “most” and not “all” because after a while, when I had worked out the obvious candidates, the effort seemed clearly unproductive to me and unlikely to produce a different reaction anywhere else would lead.”

While television has ignored the tapes, the most subscribed commentator on Substack, historian Heather Cox Richardson, made them known to her 1.6 million subscribers and 2 million Facebook followers. Google's interest in Epstein, and particularly the term “Epstein-Trump,” has also increased significantly since the Daily Beast first reported the tapes' existence on November 1.

The Daily Beast has reached out to NBC News for comment.