Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Jimmy Kimmel has revealed his shock that newly-surfaced claims about Donald Trump’s relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have not “moved the needle” in the election.
In a final pitch to viewers on Monday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host referred to claims which have just come to light about Trump’s past friendship with the late billionaire pedophile.
Journalist Michael Wolff released an audio clip four days before the end of the presidential campaign on his podcast Fire and Fury of what he says is Epstein talking in intimate detail about the inner workings of Trump’s Cabinet.
“I still don’t understand how this race is close,” Kimmel said, exasperated.
“We heard a bombshell audio tape in which Jeffrey Epstein says he was Trump’s closest friend and shares a bunch of crazy stories, this barely moves the needle.
“We just got a hundred hours of Jeffrey Epstein saying he and Trump were BFFs, I didn’t even get an alert about it on my phone,” Kimmel said.
“Epstein said Trump told him he, uh, likes to have sex with the wives of his best friends to the point where Epstein described Trump as having no moral compass,” Kimmel continued.
“Do you know what kind of low life you have to be for Jeffrey Epstein to say you have no moral [compass]? It’s like if R Kelly got mad at you for leaving the toilet seat up.”
Recordings obtained by The Daily Beast reportedly contain Epstein’s damning assessment of Trump.
“The moral compass just does not exist,” he told Wolff.
In his final take-down of Trump before America goes to the polls today, Kimmel also referred to a Fox News interview from June where Trump was asked whether he’d declassify the Epstein files.
Trump didn’t hesitate when asked whether he would declassify the 9/11 files or the JFK files, but when it came to Epstein, he briefly paused and said: “I guess I would, but I think that less so because you don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there.”
“Right, better to keep them locked up in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago,” Kimmel quipped, in reference to Trump’s alleged mishandling of classifed documents on leaving the White House.
Responding to The Daily Beast’s reporting on the audio clip shared by Trump, Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 election campaign, said: “Michael Wolff is a disgraced writer who routinely fabricates lies in order to sell fiction books because he clearly has no morals or ethics.
“He waited until days before the election to make outlandish false smears all in an effort to engage in blatant election interference on behalf of Kamala Harris.
“He’s a failed journalist that is resorting to lying for attention.”