The president is ripped for retweeting a post that links the Clintons to the death of accused sex trafficker Epstein, who was known to be friendly with both Trump and Bill Clinton.
- Aug 12, 2019
AceShowbiz - Donald Trump has once again come under fire because of his Twitter activity. The president has weighed in on the death of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide by hanging in jail on Saturday morning, August 10.
Following news of Epstein's death, Twitter erupted with a conspiracy theory that the Clintons were involved in the death of the 66-year-old financier. The president shared a tweet by conservative comedian Terrence K. Williams who wrote, "Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH? Yeah right! How does that happen #JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he's dead."
Williams also suggested in a video along with the tweet that "somebody not doing their job, or somebody got paid not to do - not to do their job, so somebody can get knocked off, so information don't come out."
Trump has since been blasted by Democrats for promoting the baseless claim. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke accused the president of trying to divide Americans and distract voters away from the issue of gun violence by fueling the theory that Epstein did not commit suicide, but was killed by someone connected to former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"This is just more recklessness. What he is doing is dangerous," said presidential candidate Booker during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union". "He is giving life to not just conspiracy theories but really whipping people up into anger and worse against different people in this country."
He added, "This is a very dangerous president that we have right now. Trying to divide us against each other and really using the same tactics and same language not just of white supremacists, but also using the same tactics and languages of the Russians if you look at the intelligence reports about how they're coming at our democracy."
O'Rourke, meanwhile, said Trump's retweet was "[a]nother example of Trump using his position to attack political enemies with unfounded conspiracy theories." He went on arguing, "Trump is changing the conversations so we can't focus on the real problems that he is part of," including gun violence and anti-immigrant policy.
Epstein was arrested in July for allegations of sex trafficking of dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, from at least 2002 to 2005. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was known to be friendly to Trump, Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew prior to his death, leading to questions what politicians knew about the billionaire's alleged sex crimes.
Epstein was found unresponsive in his New York City jail cell on Saturday at approximately 6:30 A.M, three weeks after he was taken off a suicide watch. Last month, he was found in the fetal position in his jail cell with marks on his neck that suggested he tried to kill himself.
On Sunday, Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Barbara Sampson, released a statement regarding Epstein's death. "Today, a medical examiner performed the autopsy of Jeffrey Epstein. The ME's determination is pending further information at this time," the statement read. "At the request of those representing the decedent, and with the awareness of the federal prosecutor, I allowed a private pathologist (Dr. Michael Baden) to observe the autopsy examination."
