Barron Trump-endorsed podcaster asks JD Vance ‘what changed?' over his Epstein files stance
Von reshared an X post Wednesday that included footage of an October 2024 interview between him and Vance.
In that clip, Von quipped that officials need to 'release the list' when Vance told him that many politicians have vices 'worse than alcoholism.' Vance replied that the U.S. 'seriously' needs to 'release the Epstein list.'
On X this week, the original poster wrote: 'Hey JD, what changed?'
The podcaster replied: 'Yeah what changed?'
Von, 45, hosts This Past Weekend, the fourth-largest podcast on Spotify in the U.S., and has attracted politicians, including Senator Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump. About five million people listen to Von's podcasts each month, and he's particularly influential among young men and Trump voters.
Vance appeared on Von's podcast again last month, where he defended Trump against billionaire Elon Musk's unsubstantiated claim that he appeared in the Epstein files.
'First of all, absolutely not,' Vance told Von. 'Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein. Whatever the Democrats and the media says about him, that's totally B.S.'
Von's X jab comes as the Trump administration faces severe pushback from their MAGA base after the DOJ and FBI released a joint memo confirming that Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 and did not have a 'client list' of rich and powerful people.
The memo attempted shut down conspiracy theories — which current FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino once peddled — surrounding Epstein's death.
But the memo simply raised questions after Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested she had the client list on her desk in February.
Trump, who once socialized with Epstein, has attempted to quell the MAGA outrage. He demanded his supporters stop going after Bondi in a Truth Social post on Saturday. In a post Wednesday, Trump accused his 'past' supporters of dragging the issue.
'Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bulls***,' hook, line, and sinker,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump also told reporters Tuesday that the Epstein files were 'made up' by former President Barack Obama and former FBI Director James Comey. He's continued to defend Bondi's actions since.
Trump recently revealed that he went on Von's podcast last year after his teenage son, Barron, recommended it during his campaign.
'Barron, said, 'Dad, you got to do an interview' with somebody I hadn't heard of, but my son knew very well,' Trump said, during a speech in May.
'This is before the election. You know, we won in a landslide, in case you hadn't known, but he said, 'Dad, you got to do an interview with a guy named Theo Von,'' Trump added. 'I said, 'Who the hell is Theo Von?' He said, 'Dad, he's such a big guy. You got to do an interview.' So he knew all the names.'
Barron, 19, graduated from high school during the last presidential campaign. He enrolled at New York University's Stern School of Business in the fall, just months before his father won the White House for a second time.
He's expected to start his second year at NYU in September.
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