00:00Both allies and critics of the Trump administration are questioning why the First Lady is denying links to Jeffrey Epstein.
00:06Speaking at the White House, she unexpectedly demanded congressional hearings for Epstein's victims
00:11and pushed back against what she calls lies about her and her husband.
00:19I've never been friends with Epstein.
00:22Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time.
00:29I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.
00:38Let's talk to Murray Leith, the professor of politics at the University of the West of Scotland.
00:43Murray, welcome. Why do you think Melania Trump wanted to speak and why now?
00:48Well, that's certainly a good question.
00:51It was when all the reporters were yelling at her as she left the room yesterday.
00:55It was, why now? Why are you speaking now?
00:57We can only assume that it's because there have been chatter on social media and other areas.
01:05The rumours that she said were lies and incorrect.
01:10They have been cropping up more and more in recent weeks.
01:13And she's sought to tampen them down and to clearly say,
01:17this has nothing to do with me.
01:19I'm not a friend of Epstein.
01:20And please stop talking about it.
01:22What did you make of what she had to say?
01:26Well, it was quite interesting.
01:28First of all, it caught me by surprise.
01:30Certainly, I didn't have the First Lady of the United States coming out
01:35and making a comment on the Epstein file situation on my bingo card this week.
01:39So, I think it was also interesting that she was very focused on her.
01:46She said, I am not a friend and was never a friend I have seen.
01:50I was not a victim.
01:52I met Donald Trump through another person.
01:54So, it was very focused on her situation
01:57and laying out very clearly what she would accept as people saying
02:01and, more importantly, what she would not accept people talking about.
02:05And I think that's the main reason she did what she did yesterday.
02:08So, could this statement of hers have legal motivations
02:12given past defamation cases involving similar claims?
02:17Absolutely.
02:18I mean, in the past, several people in organizations have had to apologize
02:22for speaking about her and the Epstein situation.
02:25And I think she was reiterating that she will go after people seeking apologies
02:31and, perhaps, in the future, even taking legal action where necessary
02:35to stop people linking hard to this scandal.
02:39The First Lady called for survivors to testify before Congress.
02:42I mean, surely some survivors will not want to put themselves through that again.
02:48Absolutely. Absolutely.
02:49In fact, I think we saw an announcement by 15 survivors yesterday saying just that.
02:55Many of them saying, we have done our bit.
02:58We have sought to get Congress to talk about this.
03:01It's now time for other people to come forward and do it, other than the survivors.
03:06And, of course, many of the survivors, as you say, are still unknown to the wider public
03:10and want to remain that way.
03:12So, it is clear they're not happy about the focus perhaps shifting to them through the media,
03:18and they want to see further action taken within Congress
03:21and people appearing in front of congressional committees.
03:24Murray, good to see you. Murray Leith, Professor of Politics at the University of the West of Scotland.
03:29Good morning.
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