CNN host Abby Phillip and reporter Donie O'Sullivan slammed President Donald Trump on Monday night over his inability to speak to his base following the latest scandal.
Last week, Justice Department officials issued an unsigned memo contradicting many points of the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory that Trump and his surrogates have parroted for multiple years. The move set off a firestorm within the MAGA base and has become a political liability for the Trump administration.
"Perhaps it's not surprising that his 'MAGA Frankenstein' doesn't believe him," Phillip said.
Phillip then asked O'Sullivan how the MAGA base is feeling.
"They're very pissed," O'Sullivan said before discussing his recent reporting at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida. "Everybody was talking about it. On stage. Off stage. We spoke to a lot of people and didn't meet anyone who didn't want Trump to be more transparent and release whatever it is that people imagine the Epstein files to be."
Trump has tried to calm the fallout from the Epstein memo, but his efforts have largely fallen on deaf ears. For instance, Trump posted that the files were written by prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, a sign that experts say means he wants to change the subject.
He has also bluntly told his base to stop talking about Epstein altogether.
None of that has worked yet, which led Phillip to question whether Trump has something to hide.
You can watch the segment here.
