Trump Panics in Epstein Aftermath Pushing Lies as Clintons Gear Up to Testify

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: Trump Panics in Epstein Aftermath Pushing Lies as Clintons Gear Up to Testify
Podcast: IHIP News
Hosts: Jennifer Welch & Angie "Pumps" Sullivan (with guest Kylie Welch and Poppy Harlow)
Date: February 3, 2026

This episode dives into the ongoing fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein files, highlighting Donald Trump's evasions and deflections in the public eye, the media's complicity, and the broader implications for democracy. Hosts bring their signature progressive, irreverent tone to a critical look at both MAGA Republicans and the failures of mainstream Democrats, while also discussing the Clinton deposition, propaganda in right-wing media, and the urgent need for activism as midterm elections approach.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Trump’s Gaslighting and Epstein File Evasions

• Poppy Harlow introduces the episode's main theme: Trump's dismissive and dishonest responses to his appearance in the newly released Epstein files ([00:05]).

• A Trump audio clip plays, with Trump downplaying his connection to Epstein and scapegoating others:

  “Nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. ...there are a lot of questions about it, but nothing on me.” – Donald Trump ([00:29])

• Kylie Welch calls out Trump’s statement as “intentional propaganda and gaslighting…a survival, fight or flight reflex for him.” She notes Trump's repeated lying when “clearly objectively involved” and points out the hypocrisy of his supporters, the lack of media coverage on the full geopolitical context, and Trump's role as “their Trojan horse” for authoritarian interests ([01:07]).

2. Lack of Accountability and Systemic Failures

• Hosts express rage and frustration that despite years of abuse and political coverups, likely none of the powerful men involved (especially Trump) will face consequences.

  “None of these men are going to face accountability, least of all Trump. ...not only that, the FBI is re-releasing pictures and private information about these women, but blocking out pictures, aka Donald Trump.” – Poppy Harlow ([03:02])

• Kylie Welch blames both GOP and Democratic leaders, including Garland and Biden, for failing to push for accountability during their time in power:

  “Merrick Garland and Joe Biden had this for four years. Four years. ...and they just said here, here’s democracy, you fascist nutjob. ...It is the most maddening thing.” ([03:46])

3. The Clinton Deposition & Double Standards

• Poppy Harlow notes the news that Bill and Hillary Clinton will testify under oath for four hours, unlike Trump, who has avoided any similar scrutiny.

  “Do I think Bill Clinton was up to some really shady shit in this? Absolutely. ...But ...Donald Trump hasn’t been questioned under oath for four hours about Epstein.” ([05:25])

• Revelation from the Epstein files about Melania’s introduction to Trump is also discussed, raising questions about her history and the lack of transparency in her public narrative.

4. Propaganda, Hypocrisy, and the Authoritarian Playbook

• Kylie Welch argues that the Trump era is not "politics as usual" but fundamentally fascistic, with constant use of propaganda, gaslighting, and hypocrisy.

  “We cannot take our normal everyday logic that we would apply to a Mitt Romney administration or a George W. Bush administration and apply that here. This is a different beast.” ([08:13])

• Recurrent theme: the regime (Trump and associates) will not self-correct, act with integrity, or apply the law equitably. The only way to counter is “locking in” for the fight ([10:52]).

• Poppy Harlow and Kylie Welch touch on Fox News and other right-wing outlets pushing daily “North Korea style” propaganda, distracting from real issues and scapegoating immigrants ([12:27], [13:25]).

5. The Power Behind the Curtain: Oligarchs and Media

• Kylie names billionaire power players (Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, etc.) as key actors pulling the strings, manipulating politics in the shadows because they themselves are unelectable.

  “We will install puppets and we will get all of the power and we will pull all of the levers. ...The machinations ...these really dark nefarious people...they've decided, oh, I don’t think democracy is great anymore.” ([18:06])

• Critique of Citizens United and corporate personhood as eroding actual democracy.

6. The Call to Action: Engagement Despite Fatigue

• The hosts insist the situation is dire but not hopeless—historical change comes from the people, not parties.

  “But I look back upon history and it’s always been people that have been the impetus of movements, not political parties.” – Kylie Welch ([04:37])

• Kylie:

  “It is our job to call it out...Amplify scholars, amplify experts. This playbook has been done before in history and we have to make sure because this is our last chance in the midterms…we must step up and meet this moment.” ([19:00], [21:09])

• Urges listeners to stay “locked in,” show up in overwhelming numbers at the polls, and not fall victim to nihilism—despite the psychological fatigue the constant barrage of bad news brings.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Poppy Harlow ([03:02]):

  “It was a full blown pedophile, sex trafficking reign to the highest reaches of power and money and political agents and nobody is going to be held accountable.”

• Kylie Welch ([08:13]):

  “These people are fascist through and through. Their number one default setting is propaganda…He will always go after innocent people.”

• Kylie Welch ([10:52]):

  “We need to lock in and understand and just accept as a foregone conclusion that every single day when you wake up in Trump’s America, you’re going to get erosion of civil liberties, you’re going to get pathological lies, and you’re going to get a shit ton of propaganda.”

• Kylie Welch ([19:00]):

  “Propaganda is cheating. Fox News is cheating. These are titty babies that get up and whine and lie all day every day. And it is our job to call it out.”

• Kylie Welch ([21:09]):

  “Their intention to scare us, their intention to advertise the breathtaking hypocrisy so that we will descend into nihilism. That’s their desired result. And so we have to stay engaged. It’s exhausting...But it’s the fight of our lives and we must step up and meet this moment.”

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Epstein Files & Trump’s Gaslighting: [00:05]–[03:46]
• Failings of DOJ & Democrats: [03:46]–[05:25]
• Clinton Deposition Double Standards & Melania’s Ties: [05:25]–[08:13]
• Fascist Playbook & Propaganda: [08:13]–[13:25]
• Role of Oligarchs/Power Brokers: [18:06]–[19:00]
• Activism, Voting, & Urgency for Change: [19:00]–[21:40]

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Tone, Energy, and Style

• Passionate, irreverent, and openly exasperated with the current state of US politics.
• Sharp, at times biting humor (e.g., “titty babies that get up and whine and lie all day”).
• Deeply critical of both Republican and Democratic failures; calls for grassroots mobilization.
• Candid, unfiltered camaraderie among hosts, giving the episode an energizing feel despite heavy themes.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• The Trump–Epstein connection and broader corruption are not being adequately addressed by authorities or the media.
• Propaganda and hypocrisy are now central to US governance, not unfortunate side effects.
• Powerful tech and media oligarchs are manipulating democracy from behind the scenes.
• Engagement and robust turnout are the only ways to fight back; nihilism and disengagement are the true enemies.
• The hosts urge listeners to “lock in” for the long battle, amplify truth, and vote as if democracy depends on it—because it does.

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Transcript

[Poppy Harlow]

Nothing is more dismissive of Epstein survivors and victims of sexual assault than to be swooshed aside, hoaxed. All of the things that Donald Trump does. And we know that Donald Trump is cankles deep in the Epstein files, but here's what he said yesterday in the Oval Office proving his ability to gaslight never dies.

[Donald Trump]

Nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. And in fact, if you look at the DOJ, they announced, you know, they released 3 million pages. It's like this is all they're supposed to be doing. And frankly, the doj, I think should just say we have other things to do because that whole thing has turned out, I mean, other than Bill Clinton and, you know, Bill Gates and lots of people that have. There are a lot of questions about it, but nothing on me. But it was even sort of better than that.

[Poppy Harlow]

Okay, nothing on me. DOJ needs to move on. That is so dismissive. It is such a lie. What are your thoughts on seeing him say that?

[Kylie Welch]

Well, it's intentional propaganda and gaslighting that the administration has done forever. This man is every single time he's accused of something and he's clearly objectively involved in something, clearly objectively in the middle of it, he lies, pathologically lies through his teeth. It is a survival, fight or flight reflex for him. So this is not new, just the subject matter is new. And his, you know, supporters were all involved in this. Release the files. Release the files. Release the files. His attorney General, Pam Bondi. The list is on my desk. The file is files are on my desk. I will be releasing everything fully transparently, blah, blah. Well, this guy's in it like over 50,000 times or something like this. Over 5,300. Yeah, he's compromised by Russia. Western media doesn't even remotely report that he's compromised by Israel. And all throughout the reports there is reporting that both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghisain Maxwell are Mossad agents, which should be the top story. But Western media refused to, refuses to objectively report on this story. We have Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Thiel in deep conversations about dismantling the eu, starting with Brexit. They high fived over that and they want to create a new world order. But all of these guys, Peter till, Steve Bannon, they can't run for office. They're not electable. So they have this idiotic, demented show pony that is really, really easy to manipulate. And so they got him inside the walls of power and they're dismantling it. He's their Trojan horse. And none of that gets reported. And it's so frustrating.

[Poppy Harlow]

It's so frustrating. As I continue to review these files, I think none of these men are going to face accountability, least of all Trump. And it, it makes me so mad to think all of this was going on for years. I mean, it was a full blown pain. Pedophile, sex trafficking re reign to the highest reaches of power and money and political agents and nobody is going to be held accountable. Not only that, the FBI is re releasing pictures and private information about these women, but yet they're blocking out pictures, AKA Donald Trump of his face in these photos. It is just, it's so.

[Kylie Welch]

Let me say something here. I understand Trump's DOJ blocking stuff. Agree. And releasing the victims. Merrick Garland and Joe Biden had this for four years. Four years. And they just said here, here's democracy, you fascist nutjob. Who? Everybody that worked with you. And Trump 1.0 said that you wanted generals like Hitler's generals, that you were a fascist through and through, that you asked if you could shoot profit protesters. And Trump 1.0, these are conservatives that served with him in his first administration. And the Democrats are like, oh well, we believe in the American people not to get brainwashed on social media, so we'll just pass it all back over to these fascists. It is the most maddening thing. I expect nothing but moral depravity from maga Republicans, especially if they talk about being Christians. You know, they're the most broken, emotionally stunted, diabolical, cruel people among us and they feed off all of this. And so it makes me so incredibly angry that the Democrats didn't do anything about that. And then I look at who the demo, what the Democrats are doing right now. We have Chuck Schumer, I pledge allegiance to Israel over the weekend. It's just, it's so incredibly frustrating and so it's hard to stay engaged. It's hard to think how are we going to make it through this. But I look back upon history and it's always been people that have been the impetus of movements, not political parties. And scholar Tom Snyder reminds us of that again and again and again. It is the people that promote movements. And so that's what keeps me going.

[Poppy Harlow]

No, I think you're exactly right. It is so frustrating. And I think you were one of the very first people that pointed out like what you just said. People have to stay engaged. As hard as it is, we have to come together. So Kylie, let's skip two and go straight to three. And we find out as, as fucking Trump who is all over the Epstein files, has to bring up Bill Clinton and Bill Gates. We find out that Bill and Hillary Clinton are willing to testify in a four hour deposition recorded by transcript from the Oversight Committee. And so what my question is, do I think Bill Clinton was up to some really shady shit in this? Absolutely. Do I think he should be held accountable for it? Absolutely. But what makes me so mad on this again, Donald Trump hasn't been questioned under oath for four hours about Epstein. He hasn't said he's willing to do that. In fact, when asked his assistant or the deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche is like, well, just because he partied with Epstein doesn't mean he did anything wrong. They've not questioned him, they've not asked for sworn statements. They've done fucking evidence. Nothing. And so Trump is so happy to throw the Clintons under the bus, which if they're in it, I'll throw them under the bus. But don't sit there in the Oval Office in front of Howard Nutlik that looked like he had just swallowed a basketball during that same press conference. Throw the Clintons under the bus when you yourself will not sit for any type of questioning. Which would his DOJ do, any kind of decent questioning? No, but it just, the gaslighting, the, the pain that he causes people is just, it's so enraging. And then something with this last dump. Pull this up, okay. In an email talking about acquiring a new modeling agency, Jeffrey Epstein says he introduced Melania to Donald Trump. That doesn't surprise me. That's been the whispers this whole time. That would make more sen to me in terms of she came over, the visa, all of those things. She married a rich guy in the inner circle. But this whole documentary she just does. It would have been interesting if she would have talked about her ties to Epsting, but she didn't. But to think that the first lady and Donald Trump are BFFs. We've seen in these documents, she's emailing Galain Maxwell, making plans with her that this DOJ under this administration has not recused because of a conflict of interest. Your face.

[Kylie Welch]

They're not going to do that. They're going to go after the Clintons. They're going to be hypocrites, they're going to gaslight. And we cannot take our normal everyday logic that we would apply to a Mitt Romney administration or a George W. Bush administration and apply that here. This is a different beast. These people are fascist through and through. Their number one default setting is propaganda. He will always go after innocent people. Don Lemon arrested a huge blow to the First Amendment. He went after James Comey, who I don't even really like. I think he's the one that handed Donald Trump the entire presidency the first time around. Letitia James Alvin Braggs. I don't have any expectation that these fascists are going to do the right thing. I expect every single morning they are going to wake up, lie and propagandize. I expected when Melania Trump had a sex offender direct her documentary at the behest of a shakedown from Donald Trump giving Jeff Bezos $40 million so that Jeff Bezos could bend the knee. I expect it to be nothing short of a hour and a half of excruciating propaganda. I wake up every morning and expect this from them. I know that this is not politics as usual. That's why I get frustrated with the Democrats, because they are playing it as though, why is he doing this? Why isn't he doing that? And it's like, you've got to lock in. You got to lock in. This guy is trying to consolidate power in the executive branch. Every day, all day, he's around pedophiles, he's around pedophile protectors. Protectors. He himself, as I always say, is cankles deep in the Epstein files. And this whole movement, with its mass support in evangelical Christianity, is all about forgiveness without accountability. And every single day, any notion that they're going to wake up and be accountable is a fool's errand. Any notion that they're going to apply the law equally is a fool's errand. Any notion that they're going to wake up and not lie through their teeth is a fool's errand. Any notion that he is not going to do everything in his power to, quote, nationalize the elections and send ICE to terrorize immigrant polling places, black polling.

[Advertisement Voice]

Places, that he's not going to have.

[Kylie Welch]

Tulsi Gabbard go get paper ballots right in the evening of the election day for the midterms is a fool's errand. We need to lock in and understand and just accept as a foregone conclusion that every single day when you wake up and Trump's America, you're going to get erosion of civil liberties, you're going to get pathological lies, and you're going to get a shit ton of propaganda. You're going to have breathtaking hypocrisy. Our country does not run in the ways it has in the past. This is different. The oligarchs that get all of these government contracts do not care about its citizens. But most importantly, Donald Trump's ruling class, they don't give a shit about their citizens as proven. How they are dismantling the epa. Measles are on the increase. They are favoring constant corporations in removing safety regulations. So we need to lock in and be clear eyed every day when we wake up that this is what's coming for us every morning, every afternoon, every evening, overnight. The machinations of these mad men will not cease. There is not going to be any fair play from this administration at all. They're not going to make a clear eyed documentary about Melania. They're incapable of rigorous honesty because now we're at the phase and this coup that they believe their own propaganda.

[Poppy Harlow]

Yeah, when you, when you said that after having spoken with Ruth Ben Ghiat about they believe their own propaganda, that was chilling to me because on some level I thought they knew the truth. But I wouldn't argue with you or Ruth Ben Ghiat on that point. And just one final thing about propaganda and what's going on in Fox News. We have this comment made and I just thought I have to show Jennifer.

[Jennifer]

This clip they're really worried about is if this is indicia for the midterms because they're all saying, oh, it's done, we're going to control Congress. This is the indication that that silent majority is still out there.

[Poppy Harlow]

Melania documentary, which was the biggest box office slop is now the reason that Democrats are worried about the midterms. I just thought that is a whole new level every day. Fox News surprises me with the level.

[Kylie Welch]

Of.

[Advertisement Voice]

That'S the problem.

[Kylie Welch]

We mustn't be surprised anymore. We must be prepared that every single day they are going to wake up and North Korea style propagandize us. We have to accept it. We have to be clear right about that. Every single day, the people, the strong man that is now weak, frail, demented, showing clear signs of physical, you know, being closer and closer to physical death. Everybody in his cabinet, as Opposed to Trump 1.0, are loyalists first and foremost. These are sycophants. A lot of these people in his cabinet, I believe we're at 25 to 30, are also cankles deep in the Epstein files. The oligarchs that have bent the knee to Trump are cankles deep in the Epstein files. So every day, any form of propaganda from this regime, the oligarchs, Rupert Murdoch that wants to keep him propped up, they are going to keep your eye off the ball. Immigrants are being scapegoated. Immigrants are not the people that are taking your jobs. Historically, this is what strong men do. They scapegoat marginalized groups to take your eye off the ball. That the oligarchs and the billionaires are the ones that are taking your jobs. They are the ones that are the reason that you can't have nice things and you can't have health care. We're not talking about here. That Donald Trump is clearly compromised by Vladimir Putin. And this is confirmed in this most recent dump. Jeffrey Epstein has Donald Trump and a lot of people in his administration by the balls with Israel. He is compromised by Israel. And then our brain needs to go to and we need to be clear eyed. Chuck Schumer over the weekend told donors his number one goal is to make sure Israel still continues to be funded. So you have all of these dark forces controlling the ruling class, which is Donald Trump. He's not controlling everything. These oligarchs that know how to dog walk and manipulate him are. These same people are also controlling our opposition, which is why it's so frustrating being an American right now. And Fox News is going to continue with outrageous propaganda. When you had the day off yesterday, Pumps, I talked about Riley Gaines saying empathy and compassion are being weaponized against us as women. This outlandish insanity, permission structures for them to be the morally depraved, hypocritical Christians, faux patriots that they are, is going to get worse. And we've got to lock in and we have got to be clear eyed about what we're up against. They are going to try to rig the elections. Our outpouring of going to vote has to be too big to rig. This man and all of his sycovants. All they're going to do is going to wake up and plunder. Repeat, wake up and plunder. All right.

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[Kylie Welch]

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[Kylie Welch]

They are intentionally weakening the United States of America. And here's why. And this is the most important part. The United States as it's written right.

[Advertisement Voice]

Now gives the power to the people.

[Kylie Welch]

Citizens United took that away from us. And since then, when we started empowering corporations over human beings, they have realized, oh, this is a lot of fun. We're too dorky to run or immigrants ourselves. Elon Musk, Peter Thiel. So we will install puppets and, and we will get all of the power and we will pull all of the levers. When you find out through these Epstein files that this has been going on 10 years back, the machinations of the these really dark nefarious people that, you know, they've decided, oh, I don't think democracy is great anymore. Well, you put your ass Peter Till.

[Advertisement Voice]

With your greasy face on a ballot.

[Kylie Welch]

And you run and let's see how well that goes. Let's run you against immigrant Zoran Mamdani.

[Advertisement Voice]

And let's see who wins.

[Kylie Welch]

Let's run Elon Musk against Zoran Mamdani and see who wins. These people, all they knew know how to do is cheat. Propaganda is cheating. Fox News is cheating. These are titty babies that get up and whine and lie all day every day. And it is our job to call it out. I love you pumps that we think that maybe they might have a logical like how can we get away with doing this when this is so clearly hypocritical? That's the point. The flagrant. The rules that apply to everybody else don't apply to us. And we have to be clear eyed about what we're up against every single day. Amplify scholars, amplify experts. This playbook has been done before in history and we have to make sure because this is our last chance in the midterms that the the power remains with the people and that we install a Democratic Party that will fix the Constitution because the Constitution was not written to sustain what this man is doing. The Constitution didn't have any guard rails for a madman who also has a Supreme Court that gives all of the power to the richest people in the country. It was too vague and opaque on a lot of that stuff. And so not only this is why I'm so critical on the Democrats, because we want to have a ruling party, we have to number one, beat Republicans. And that's fun and I love it and it feels great. It feels like a drug. I love it. But number two, when we get power, Biden didn't fix anything. He further broke it. And so it has to be a two part strategy and we have to have an FDR style rule. And that's why I think we have to just keep hammering and making sure our base understands how important the voting is. And their intention to scare us, their intention to advertise the breathtaking hypocrisy so that we will descend into nihilism. That's their desired result. And so we have to stay engaged. It's exhausting. Oh my God, am I exhausted from it. But it's, it's the fight of our lives and we must step up and meet this moment.

[Poppy Harlow]

I completely agree. And, and thank you for always staying on it because I get lost in it and you always bring me back focused as fact and say here's what you need to do. So I appreciate that.

[Kylie Welch]

Of course. I always got you. I always have you, girl.

[Poppy Harlow]

But stay on it. Ms. Welch has given our marching orders. We gotta remember to do that and listen. And we will be back with more news.