Nicolle on CURVEBALL Melania speech: ‘I’m not buying it…she doesn’t weigh in on anything’

[0:01] We're back with Angelo and Charlie. Angelo, Melania Trump today seemed to confound everybody. [0:09] Your thoughts? Yeah, she sure did. I mean, she confound even Fox News. They were extremely [0:14] flabbergasted. Look, I mean, obviously there's some kind of a strategic reason for it. I mean, [0:18] one thing to consider, you know, it hasn't gotten a lot of attention in the right-wing media, [0:22] but there have been a few right-wing media hosts that have been sort of weaving and conjuring [0:26] together this really elaborate conspiracy theory about Epstein ties and Melania Trump and sort [0:31] of Israeli control of an influence over Trump. So that's not, and they've been hammering it every [0:36] day. The other thing that sort of popped up that I immediately thought of, people think, oh, [0:40] she's getting ahead of a story, maybe somebody called, possibly. But some of it has to do with [0:44] the committee itself. You know, last week, I think on The View, there was discussion about why she [0:47] hasn't been called before the committee to testify when they called the Clintons, even because she's [0:53] in the Epstein files. So that was the way I interpret it, that, you know, to some extent, [0:57] she's just getting in front of something and trying to recenter it. You know, she says it should be [1:02] about the victims, which is a way to say, not about me, please don't drag me in front of it. [1:05] And so now if something does happen, she can point to this as an attack. But either way, [1:09] it doesn't really matter what the effect, what the cause is. The effect is going to be the same, [1:13] which is that she's recentering this. And you were just, you know, we were just talking about all [1:17] the cracks in the right-wing media, in the MAGA coalition. This is one of the fault lines. [1:21] And what she basically just did is create a new earthquake on another fault line within Trump's [1:26] MAGA coalition. Whether or not that was an intention is irrelevant. The effect is very real. [1:31] Well, and I buy sort of the least dramatic explanation, right? Luke said that one of the [1:39] theories was she Googled herself and didn't like what she saw. So I Googled her. And the first story [1:43] that came up was a Daily Beast story with a CNN political commentator describing her as the most [1:48] unpopular first lady in America's 250-year history. But that doesn't mesh with the [1:55] things she said. I mean, she denied things that I've never heard said. She denied being a victim [2:00] of Jeffrey Epstein. She denied being a witness to crimes of trafficking and abuse. She denied being [2:07] his friend. She did not. I mean, she denied things with such specificity that I'd never seen alleged [2:12] about her. I have seen these things alleged. It's just they're in corners of the fever swamps [2:19] that, you know, even I don't spend a lot of time in. I mean, honestly. So, and I think if you, you know, [2:24] I hate to sort of like conjure these guesses, but you can see how this breadcrumb plays out, right? [2:29] She sees something. She asks a staffer to help her understand what's being said about her. [2:33] Because remember, these people are all tied into these fever swamps. We can't divorce that from this. [2:38] They are all creatures of the right-wing media, either explicitly or from there. But we're all [2:44] living in a fever dream now. And so, you know, a staffer could easily be connected to it. I can [2:48] point to all the shows that have made references to some of these photographs and, you know, all [2:53] these other examples or the fact that she, you know, one of the tie-ins on the idea about she knew [2:57] about the victims being trafficked is somebody sequenced together when she emailed Maxwell with a profile [3:03] about Jeffrey Epstein and sort of tied the dots that she would have known and that she was sending the [3:07] email anyway to boost herself. I mean, that is, there is actually examples out there, [3:12] but somebody really needed to be digging to give her a really comprehensive picture of all of those [3:19] things. They're not, they're not really part of the day-to-day churn. They live in the bowels. [3:24] We're not buying it, Charlie Sykes. I mean, this is a woman who doesn't weigh in on threats of war [3:30] crimes and the destruction of civilization, an attempt to end birthright citizenship, [3:34] the murder of two Americans. I mean, she doesn't weigh in on anything. And she's out there [3:40] summoning the pool, loading a teleprompter, shocking Fox News, denying things that, I cover this [3:49] story every day. I have educated myself on the facts of Epstein. I have read more of the files than I've [3:56] read of my kids' report card. I mean, like, I, it is, it is so niche where this, like, I believe, [4:03] Angela, that it's out there, but it is really hard to find. What do you think? What's your theory? [4:11] Well, this is extraordinary and it's exceedingly strange as you covered in the last hour. Why today? [4:17] What is she responding to? It's just odd to hear her, you know, protesting too, too much. But the other part of [4:24] it, and I'm glad you highlighted, it was when she was calling for the congressional hearings, [4:27] when she was calling for the congressional hearings that Republicans have refused to have. [4:31] So that we can speculate on what her motivation was. You know, my sense is that it certainly looks [4:38] and feels like she kind of went rogue that, you know, Donald Trump is off doing his other thing. [4:42] And she's out there, you know, once again, raising the Epstein files, which is the last thing [4:47] that the White House wants to do. And the last thing the congressional Republicans want to have [4:52] is the first lady, you know, Melania Trump saying, we need to have hearings and bring the [4:57] witnesses in and put them under oath, which is exactly what Democrats on that committee [5:02] have been pushing to do. So the next question is, you know, let's turn the cameras on Congress, [5:08] turn the cameras on the Republicans in Congress saying, do you agree with Melania Trump about the [5:13] need for more investigations? And as you pointed out, this comes just a couple of days after the new [5:19] acting attorney general Todd Blanche basically said, yeah, we're done with this. We're not going [5:23] to be doing anything whatsoever. So that part of her statement, you know, probably is going to [5:30] have, you know, significant, it's going to rattle people on Capitol Hill as well it should. But [5:35] what an extraordinary, strange episode in an administration where we've had a lot of weird [5:41] things happen. This really sort of stands out on its own, doesn't it? [5:45] Yeah. And I don't, look, I don't even have it there. I mean, it's so weird. I have no idea what [5:50] it is. But I think that Trump has been so deliberate in dismissing the victims. I think at one [5:58] point he said he wasn't going to have them to the White House because they don't, quote, deserve to be [6:03] there. Pam Bondi refuses to turn around and acknowledge them and starts talking about the Dow. [6:12] And then Melania says center of hearing around them. It's just, it's more, it's more weirdness.