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On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart went straight into the newly surfaced Epstein emails that mention Donald Trump and explained why he believes the president is referenced in the emails.
Stewart opened the segment by poking fun at what he called “the very normal and not shady handling of the Epstein files,” a reference to the House vote that could force the Justice Department to release the full set of Epstein documents as soon as this week.
The controversy has intensified after several of the emails released by House Democrats include references to Trump. In one, Epstein claimed that Trump “knew about the girls.” Another describes Trump spending hours at Epstein’s home with a victim. There is no evidence Trump participated in any abuse, but the mentions have been enough to reignite scrutiny of his long-ago friendship with the disgraced financier.
Trump, who once openly praised Epstein, now insists he is completely in the dark. Asked last week about those emails, he told reporters, “I know nothing about that. They would have announced that a long time ago.” He has also brushed off the scandal as a “Democratic hoax,” suggesting it is political theater cooked up by his opponents.
Stewart pushed back hard on that. “This Epstein thing is no Democrat hoax, and you know it’s real because Trump’s allies are working overtime to distract, or in the case of Fox News, not even a mention,” he said. He then rattled off the stories Fox News focused on instead: “the socialist takeover of Seattle, the Treasury phasing out the penny, the Northern Lights, the growing popularity of Christian music, and, as always, Kamala Harris goes crazy for carbs.”
For Stewart, the key tell isn’t just what Trump supporters are saying, but what they’re not willing to say at all. “You know it’s real because his allies are working overtime to distract,” he repeated, highlighting the media blackout across conservative outlets.
The host then shifted to what may be Trump’s most awkward dilemma, which is his own past statements on declassification. Stewart played a clip from a 2022 Fox News interview in which Trump declared, “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, ‘It’s declassified.’” Stewart’s point was simple. If Trump truly had “nothing to hide,” he could have released the Epstein files himself.
Instead, Trump spent months trying to block a House vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, as his allies pressured Republicans not to sign the procedural petition needed to force it onto the floor. Only after a bipartisan majority backed the move, and after his name appeared in the released emails, did Trump abruptly reverse his stance. On Monday he said he would sign the bill if it clears Congress.
Even then he tried to shift blame. “We have nothing to do with Epstein,” Trump told reporters. “The Democrats do. All of his friends were Democrats.” His advisers reportedly worry that even a full release of the files may not quiet the questions around why Trump’s name appears in Epstein’s private correspondence in the first place.
Stewart did emphasize one important distinction: Trump being mentioned in the emails is not evidence of guilt. What it is, he suggested, is evidence that the scandal can’t be dismissed as a partisan invention, especially when the claim that Trump “knew about the girls” comes straight from Epstein himself.
With the House preparing to vote on whether to force the Justice Department’s hand, the country may soon find out exactly what else Epstein wrote, and whether Trump’s attempts to distance himself can survive a full release of the files.
