“President Trump said his ‘friends will get hurt’ by exposing abusers connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.”— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) claimed in a New York Times profile that President Trump said his “friends will get hurt” by exposing abusers connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the story told by Greene, she received a call from Trump after she said at a news conference that she would expose the names of men who abused victims of Epstein. The news conference came after a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee closed-door meeting with women victimized by Epstein.
Greene said Trump called her after the news conference to express his unhappiness. The Times reported that people could hear Trump yelling at Greene as she talked to him over a speakerphone.
Greene said she told Trump she didn’t understand his intransigence, per the Times.
“My friends will get hurt,” the president said in response to Greene, she said to the outlet.
When reached for comment about Greene’s claims in the Times profile, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle noted that Greene is leaving her position in Congress halfway through her term.
Ingle said Greene “is quitting on her constituents in the middle of her term and abandoning the consequential fight we’re in — we don’t have time for her petty bitterness.”
Greene, once a staunch supporter of the president, has been feuding with Trump in recent months. In mid-November, Trump announced he was dropping his endorsement of Greene and would support a primary challenger.
Shortly after Trump declared her a traitor, Greene said she would be leaving Congress effective Jan. 5.
Democrats have zeroed in on the portion of the Times profile featuring the remarks Greene said Trump made to her on the phone.
“‘My friends will get hurt,’ he said,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said in a post Monday on social platform X. “That’s the Trump presidency in a sentence: Elite protecting elite. Even if they abused young girls.”
Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) also weighed in, writing in a post on X, “Is this the Epstein cover-up version of ‘asking for a friend?’”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5665887-trump-greene-epstein-coverup-claims/