MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” aired footage from the NBC News archives Wednesday that appears to show Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump partying in 1992.
“A tape in the NBC archives of a Mar-a-Lago archives shows Trump giving Epstein his personal attention,” co-host Mika Brzezinski said as she described the scene.
“The footage, shot in November of 1992, before Trump opened the resort as a club, shows the future president surrounded by cheerleaders for the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, capturing Trump’s fun-loving bachelor lifestyle for an appearance on Faith Daniels’ NBC talkshow.
“Trump is surrounded by women as music blares in the background. After a while, Trump goes to greet three new guests, among them the financier Jeffrey Epstein, more than a decade before his guilty plea on state prostitution charges,” Brzezinski continued. “Later in the footage, Trump is seen talking to Epstein and another man as women are seen dancing in front of them. Trump alternates between dancing and pointing out women to Epstein and the other man and telling Epstein about the cameras.”
Brzezinski said that exactly what the pair were saying is difficult to understand, but as they discuss women and their appearances, “Trump gestures to one and appears to say to Epstein, ‘Look at her back there. She’s hot.’ And then, Trump says something else into Epstein’s ear that makes him double over with laughter.”
She concludes by reminding viewers that President Trump now claims he never liked the financier, then reads a quote of Trump’s from 2002 where he calls Epstein a “terrific man” who “enjoys his social life” with beautiful women, many of whom are “on the younger side.”
“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough calls the footage proof Trump lied about never liking Epstein, who was arrested earlier this month and charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors.
Trump’s relationship to Epstein isn’t the only one that has been publicly reexamined since the billionaire’s arrest. U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta resigned last Friday two days after the former prosecutor defended his handling of a much-criticized 2008 plea deal involving Epstein.
Watch the footage of the Mar-a-Lago party above, along with a discussion from the “Morning Joe” panel.