James Carville apologizes for accusing Melania Trump of an 'Epstein connection'

Democratic strategist James Carville publicly apologized for suggesting a link between Melania Trump and the Epstein case. The veteran political adviser also removed the controversial segments from an episode of his podcast, Politics War Room."

"After the episode, we received a letter from Melania Trump’s lawyer," Carville said at the beginning of a later podcast episode. He added that the lawyer "took issue with our title of one of those YouTube videos from that episode and a couple of comments I made about the first lady."

After reviewing the content, he said, "we took a look at what they complained about, and we took down the video and edited out those comments from the episode. I also take back these statements and apologize."

Neither Carville nor Trump clarified what, specifically, the now-deleted comments were.

An image shared by FLOTUS on its official Twitter account carried the caption: "The EPSTEIN Connection – TRUMP & MELANIA."

A video, now set to private, still appears in Google’s search results under that title. The description reads: "James Carville & [journalist and co-host] Al Hunt are joined by Judd Legum as they delve into the intricate connections between Donald & Melania Trump and Jeffrey [Epstein]."

According to The Hill, Melania Trump objected to a segment in which Carville discussed how she met Epstein. A spokesperson for the First Lady told the newspaper, "First Lady Melania Trump’s attorneys are actively ensuring immediate retractions and apologies by those who spread malicious, defamatory falsehoods. The true account of how the First Lady met President Trump is in her best-selling book, ‘Melania.'"

In another video still available on YouTube as of Friday, Carville suggested that Melania may have met Donald Trump through Epstein. In her memoir, the First Lady recounts meeting the president at a party in New York, where she had been invited by a friend. Last month, she shared an excerpt from the chapter titled "Hi, I’m Donald Trump" on her social media accounts.

Also in July, The Daily Beast removed an article that claimed a modeling agent had introduced the presidential couple.

"After this story was published, The Beast received a letter from First Lady Melania Trump’s attorney challenging the headline and framing of the article," reads an editor's note cited by The New York Post.

"After reviewing the matter, the Beast has taken down the article and apologizes for any confusion or misunderstanding."