Epstein survivors slam Melania and accuse her of 'shifting the burden' after shock White House speech

The First Lady made the announcement on Thursday denying that she had any relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

She asserted she had “never been friends with Epstein" and denied being his "victim" and that he never introduced her to Donald Trump.

In response to her rare appearance, on Friday the president said he was blindsided and "didn't know anything" about her statement.

After she had decried the “false smears about me from mean-spirited and politically motivated individuals and entities,” Melania concluded her statement by calling for victims to testify in front of Congress.

She explained: “Then and only then, will we have the truth.”

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'Extraordinary courage'

But after her speech, a group of survivors released a group statement criticising the First Lady.

The statement read:

"Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filling reports, and giving testimony. Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.

"First Lady Melania Trump is now shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power: the Department of Justice, law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Trump Administration, which has still not fully complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

"It also diverts attention from Pam Bondi, who must answer for withheld files and the exposure of survivors' identities. Those failures continue to put lives at risk while shielding enablers.

"Survivors have done their part. Now it's time for those in power to do theirs."

One survivor, Marina Lacerda, responded to the First Lady's statement on Instagram. “It sounds like you’re just trying to shift attention from something to something else."

Ms Lacerda, who says she first met Epstein when she was 14 and was abuse for years asked on social media "how does this benefit the Trump family, is my question.”

Another survivor, Lisa Phillips, first met Epstein while in her twenties and said the First Lady needed to do more "to help" victims and prove her speech was not “more political theatrics”.

“I would say I call her bluff, and be like, ‘Ok, show us what you can do?’”

Ms Phillips said she thought the point of the statement was Melania “trying to let the public know that you’ve got it all wrong about me.”

She asked what more Melania was going to do for survivors: “If you want to see justice or accountability, and so do all the survivors and the American people, what’s the next step there?”

In her statement, Melania declared "now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone.

"Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicised.

"Of course, this doesn’t amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth."

Melania also dismissed emails she exchanged with Ghislaine Maxwell as “casual correspondence” and said that, while “Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time…overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach.”