'Are you kidding me?': Mike Levin slams Trump over remarks on Jeffrey Epstein's victims

U.S. Representative Mike Levin slammed President Donald Trump over his remarks on the survivors of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. Following Melania Trump's surprise statement, Trump said he was "OK" with the survivors testifying to members of Congress. However, he then referred to them as "women, victims or whatever," before falsely claiming that they "didn’t want to go under oath." The comments didn't sit well with Levin, who called Trump's demeanour unacceptable, claiming the survivors deserve a President who treats them with "dignity and seriousness." 

In a surprise statement from the White House earlier this month, the First Lady addressed the nation, refuting any close ties with Epstein and dismissing rumors of her being introduced to Donald Trump by the late sex offender. She further urged Congress last week to provide the victims with a public hearing "specifically centered around the survivors" and an option to enter their testimony into the congressional record. "Then, and only then, will we have the truth," Melania said. 

The next week, reporters asked Trump for his views on the First Lady's demands, and he said he was "OK" with the survivors testifying. "I'm OK with it, but I understand that the women didn't want to go under oath, that's what I heard," Trump told reporters. He then remarked, "That the women, or the victims, or whatever, they refused to go under oath. Which was a little surprising," a claim that The Independent deemed false. Reacting to the President's remarks, Levin on Monday slammed Trump for his choice of words. "The victims or whatever? Are you kidding me?! That is how the President of the United States just referred to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse," he wrote in a post on X.

Levin added that the survivors have bravely fought for decades at great personal cost, and they have yet to receive accountability. He argued that after being dismissed and silenced by powerful men who were well aware of Epstein's crimes, the survivors don't deserve an insensitive President. "They do NOT deserve a President willing to do anything possible to bury the Epstein Files and protect the powerful offenders in them," he wrote. 

Levin isn't alone in calling out President Trump. Other Democrats, and some Republican lawmakers, have long pushed for both the President and his wife to testify under oath as part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's probe into Epstein's crimes. While neither of them has been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, both of their names have appeared multiple times in the thousands of documents released by the Department of Justice. The idea of the survivors testifying has also gained support from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, as per The Independent. 

While the survivors haven't ruled out testifying either, they have accused the First Lady of "shifting the burden" onto them to protect people in power. In a statement released by 15 survivors, they expressed that all of Epstein's survivors have shown great courage over the year, but "asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice,” The Hill reported.