Pundit James Carville apologizes and pulls video suggesting a Melania Trump ‘Epstein connection’
Democratic strategist James Carville publicly apologized Thursday for posting a video suggesting some sort of âEpstein connectionâ involving first lady Melania Trump.
The 80-year-old pundit issued the mea culpa at the start of his latest âPolitics War Roomâ podcast episode, noting that he also took down and edited the offending video after hearing from the first ladyâs attorney.
âIn last weekâs podcast episode, we spoke with Judd Legum. After the episode, we received a letter from Melania Trumpâs lawyer. He took issue with our title of one of those YouTube videos from that episode and a couple of comments I made about the first lady,â Carville explained.
âWe took a look at what they complained about, and we took down the video and edited out those comments from the episode,â he continued.
âI also take back these statements and apologize,â Carville, sounding like he was reading a prepared statement, added.
Melania shared a transcript of Carvilleâs apology on X â along with a screenshot of the pulled video with a red âXâ across it.
The YouTube clip was titled: âJames Carville: The Epstein Connection â Trump & Melania.â
Itâs unclear what specific claims made by the former Bill Clinton campaign manager peeved the first ladyâs legal team since the offending comments have been scrubbed.
Carvilleâs retraction and apology follows lefty news website Daily Beast taking down a Melania story last week after the outlet was contacted by her lawyers.
âAfter this story was published, The Beast received a letter from First Lady Melania Trumpâs attorney challenging the headline and framing of the article,â read the editorâs note that replaced the articleâs text.
âAfter reviewing the matter, the Beast has taken down the article and apologizes for any confusion or misunderstanding,â the note continued.
The retracted article highlighted dubious claims by author Michael Wolff that a modeling agent connected to notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein introduced Melania to her husband, President Trump.
In her self-titled 2024 memoir, Melania explained that she met Trump at a September 1998 Fashion Week party at the Kit Kat Klub in New York City.
Trump sat down next to his future wife and started a conversation, Melania recalled.
âI found myself drawn to his magnetic energy,â she wrote.
The Trumps got engaged six years later and married in 2005.