Danielle Bensky, a survivor of the late sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, suggested first lady Melania Trump was victim-blaming during her surprise address Thursday where she distanced herself from the offender.
“I heard blame be placed on survivors in this,” Bensky told MS NOW’s Ana Cabrera on Friday. “I think that it feels like the burden has been now placed on survivors to come forward and speak in front of Congress, when in reality, we’ve been asking for proper investigations and for trials to move through this the right way from the very beginning.”
The first lady called for a congressional hearing for the survivors during her press event and addressed speculation over her connections to President Donald Trump’s former friend Epstein and his imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony,” she told reporters. “Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the congressional record.”
Over a dozen Epstein survivors accused the first lady of “shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power” in a statement released Thursday.
