Trump’s Epstein Nightmare Hasn’t Started Yet. Fix The Rose Garden.

0:00You're listening to Newsweek Radio. Irreverent news talk and opinion without agenda. From the 72nd floor of One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. This is Newsweek Radio with your host, Jesse Edwards.

0:40Department's handling of the Epstein case and signals a renewed interest in possible ties to high-ranking figures. While Ghislaine Maxwell's deposition has been delayed pending the Supreme Court's review of her conviction, we can expect to see Hillary Clinton on October 9th, Bill Clinton October 14th, Merrick Garland October 2nd, James Comey October 7th, Bill Barr August 18th, Alberto Gonzalez August 26th, Jeff Sessions August 28th. Is that guy still alive? Apparently. Robert Mueller September 2nd. Loretta Lynch, September 9th, and Eric Holder, September 30th. The Department of Justice has been ordered to turn over Epstein-related records by August 19th.

1:18Trump allies and far-right figures accused the DOJ of withholding key information, while Democrats are now pushing for transparency, which is sparking partisan backlash. There's also some new photos from Epstein's mansion that have revealed some disturbing details, to say the least, including unsettling artifacts and personal correspondence with high-profile figures. Among the items photographed was a first edition of Lolita, a surveillance camera mounted in Epstein's bedroom, and a massage room adorned with paintings of nude women. One of the most striking revelations was a handwritten note from filmmaker Woody Allen, who likened Epstein's dinner parties to scenes from Dracula, describing young women serving guests as reminiscent of vampire brides.

2:01What? The photos also included birthday messages from influential individuals, including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his wife, who called Epstein a, quote, collector of people, unquote, and praised his curiosity. Well, if that's not the most disgusting thing I've read all year, I don't know what is. But at least it appears as of this moment that the shit is about to hit the fan, as it absolutely should in this case. Grab the popcorn, which I I realize it's kind of a strange thing to say right after the shit hits the fan. The point is the Epstein saga hasn't even begun yet because the United States government knows exactly who was involved with Jeffrey Epstein and at precisely which levels, and they still won't tell the public.

2:42If this isn't the best excuse to purge every single politician in Washington, I don't know what is. We're going to need a full reset in this country if we're expected to survive another 250 years. But why is the United States protecting billionaire pedophiles? Am I really supposed to believe the DOJ is somehow justified in keeping this secret in the name of national security? Whoever invented that lie is the darkness we should be cutting out of society like a cancer. And you know Trump knows too. Why else would he say that Bill Clinton went to Epstein Island 28 times? You ought to be speaking about Bill Clinton who went to the island 28 times.

3:18That's not a number you just randomly pull out of your hat. And why would Trump, a guy who's built his entire brand attacking Hillary and Obama, not run with it? No, he just casually mentions it like it was lunch at Hooters and then moved on. I'm guessing that it's because Bill Clinton knows something about Trump that could destroy him. It looks like mutual blackmail, or maybe something worse, some kind of unspoken code of protection among powerful men, especially, you know, former presidents. I did not have sexual relations with that woman. But just knowing what we know about both Clinton and Trump, especially their well-documented sexual appetites, I'd say it's much safer to assume they did something illegal.

3:54and they're covering for each other. Now that's just my opinion based on how it looks from the outside. But perception is everything in Washington and the fact that they're tripping over themselves to hide this tells me that we've only seen the tip of the iceberg. Can you imagine what MAGA would do if this ever came out fully? If they found out that Trump was passing around teenage girls with the same guy who got caught ejaculating on an intern's dress in the Oval Office. It's disgusting to say out loud. But this is the caliber of men we've allowed to run our country.

4:33I actually see virtually zero difference between a guy like Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. I mean, sure, their politics and religion is probably way different, but deep down these are men who worship the same God, which is sex, with young beautiful girls as often as they can for as long as they can because it's the only thing that makes them feel powerful anymore. I mean, say what you will about Barack Obama, he would not do that. I'd still drink a beer and go to a potluck with Barack Obama, but I would never say that about Trump or Bill Clinton. Because Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are both sleazebags.

5:05No, I'm serious. We need to fire every single politician in America and start over. Give it like a year. You know, don't pass any new laws for a while. We can live through that. Clear the entire swamp out and bring in some young, fresh minds and while we're at it, let's demand some term limits and double their salaries. You know, so when they get caught trading stocks on inside information, we can lock them up for life. No, it wouldn't fix everything, but it would make a massive dent. Let's add one more rule just as a cherry on the top. You don't get to vote unless you can pass a basic civics test.

5:37You know, just enough to prove you know what country you live in and how it works. Next headline in Newsweek, Marjorie Taylor Greene turns on GOP, says Republicans are anti-women. This is another fascinating case study of watching someone on the far right go through like all seven stages of the grief process. I think MTG is somewhere between the bargaining and depression stages currently before she finally moves on to acceptance. But Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and steadfast supporter of President Donald Trump, has publicly criticized her party over its treatment of women and said the GOP is out of step with the priorities of the Make America Great Again movement.

6:18Quote, I don't know if the Republican Party is leaving me or if I'm kind of not relating to the Republican Party as much anymore, she told the Daily Mail. She added that women in her party were, quote, really sick and tired of the way men treat Republican women, unquote. And it's not just that. She went on a rant here somewhere else about some intra-party fighting over foreign policy as well. Let's take a listen to that. The Republican Party is going to lose voters drastically. I'm giving out the warning right now, and I can't I can't make these sirens sound loud enough. The Republican Party is going to lose people drastically unless they get with the program and get on the America first train.

6:57And that's what that's what President Trump has always been about is America first. But I think he has people tugging him and pulling him. He's got neocons like Lindsey Graham, Mark Levin, you name it, this whole crowd pulling him and pulling him to support these foreign wars, probably telling them that it creates jobs in America. That doesn't the defense industry. Those are the kind of jobs we need to stop creating. We can create a lot of other jobs in America instead of building weapons to destroy and kill people. But I think that's what's happening. And it's the lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

7:32and the major industry players. And his phone is ringing off the hook from foreign leaders from countries all over the world, begging and pleading and demanding this and that from Donald Trump. Well, you know what? The American people are the ones that matter the most. And that's that's who he should be talking to. Well, he's not because he's not beholden to the American people anymore. Marjorie Taylor Greene, he's not going to run for a third term as much as he likes to float that idea just to freak people out. It's almost as if you don't realize that Donald Trump has always been part of the global elite.

8:07Where do you think all those zeros in his bank account came from? Oh, he's a deep state goon. He always has been and always will be. If you want to read on that further, check out my op-ed at Newsweek called Donald Trump, a Deep State Swamp Monster. I mean, she's absolutely right, but she just doesn't realize that Trump has always been a globalist neocon hack who would sell your average MAGA voter down the river for an extra buck. So even the slower folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene here are starting to understand it, but are you? I'm asking my MAGA people listening to my voice right now. Marjorie Taylor Greene has noticed that Trump is floating amnesty for illegals.

8:40He's done a complete about-face on Ukraine and Russia. His big not-so-beautiful spending bill reads like it was pinned by a tax-and-spend liberal, and now it sounds like he's starting to side with the Palestinians, you know, 40 % of which still think that Hamas should be in power. People like Marjorie Taylor Greene are ready to leave the party over Trump's sudden across-the-board shift. He even lost the QAnon shaman last week. I've never known a respectable shaman to call themselves one, but there you have it. And taking all of this into consideration, is it any wonder that Trump's approval rating among liberals has gone up in recent weeks?

9:12I'm not even joking. It's the next headline in Newsweek. Donald Trump's approval ratings jumps with liberals. According to polling released on August 4th, the proportion of liberals who say they approved of Trump's job performance increased by four percentage points from 19 % at the end of June to 23 % in early August. What is it about Trump right now that has his most ardent followers like Marjorie Taylor Green here acting like she's going to leave the party while his support among the left is actually up? Truly bizarre times we're living in. I'd like to shift to something that I was going to submit as an op-ed for Newsweek.com's opinion section, but I wanted to share it with you here out loud first before I make that decision.

9:50And it's about replanting the Rose Garden at the White House. Because there are moments when politics and symbolism kind of collide in this way that's too perfect to ignore. And Donald Trump's decision to pave over the White House Rose Garden is one of those moments. I'm not talking about the landscaping. I'm talking about the metaphor. And if Democrats had any instinct for theater whatsoever, they would already be hammering what I'm about to say into the national psyche. We are going to fix the Rose Garden. It's simple. It's visual. And it's loaded with meaning. and I think more importantly, it speaks to a much deeper yearning that a lot of Americans on the left and the right and disillusioned center are feeling right now, which is the basic desire to put things back the way they were before all this chaos.

10:32Of course, Trump's chaos isn't just limited to shrubbery, but the Rose Garden, a place for press briefings and peace accords and presidential dignity, has now been paved over like the driveway of one of his failed casinos, something that once symbolized grace and diplomacy has been turned into a concrete stage for the reality show president. I mean, if there's a Democrat out there talking about this right now, I have missed it. And I shouldn't have to look it up if there is. Which is absolutely stunning considering how low effort and high impact this kind of promise could be. Get the jackhammers out.

11:02You're not going to find any backlash and it'll cost next to nothing. And you know what? It's going to land with voters on both sides. Why? Because Americans understand symbolism if they understand nothing else. It's not that people don't care about facts. They do, but symbols are facts in a political culture like ours. And restoring the Rose Garden could be a powerful one. Just think about the image. A new president maybe rolled up sleeves planting something living where Trump had installed a driveway. Trump's never been about governing. It's about domination and owning the libs. And it's about removing anything that reminded people this place once stood for something bigger than him.

11:35His desecration of the Rose Garden wasn't just a style choice. It was a message that your past doesn't matter. Only I matter. Of course he paved over the Rose Garden. Of course he did. But the more interesting question is why haven't Democrats already promised to undo it? Why isn't some clever speechwriter wrapped this into a campaign message, a policy platformer, fundraising email? Even if Democrats win in 28, it's not going to be enough just to push forward. They're going to need repair. And Americans, especially the ones who don't obsess over politics every day, like people like you and I might, need a visual cue that this repair is real.

12:06They need to see it. They need to feel it. They need to walk by it on a White House tour. And that's what the Rose Garden can offer. A sign that the madness is not permanent. That the grass grows back and that we could choose elegance over ego. Ironically, I think the most powerful message Democrats could deliver right now isn't about tax rates or immigration quotas or the size of government. It's about whether we still care enough to put something broken back together. The Rose Garden used to be a place where America showed its better side to the world. And if we don't even care about fixing the most visible and most fixable symbols of national dignity, What hope do we honestly have of restoring anything else?

12:42So say it already. And say it with me. Say it proud. We will replant the Rose Garden. And also, if Trump does end up building this monstrosity of a warehouse-sized ballroom on the side of the White House grounds, we're going to bulldoze that too and make it look like it was never there. Have you seen this thing? It is god-awful and stupid-looking as Donald Trump himself. Let's talk about that next time because we are out of time for today's show. And until we can do it again, it's Newsweek Radio. I'm Jesse Edwards. Catch you next time. Bye. And we say bye-bye. Newsweek Radio is a member of the Trust Project.

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