Speaking on Fox News personality Jesse Watters, Eric Trump claimed "to know the White House as well as anyone" and appeared to suggest that his father, former Republican President Donald Trump, had used his presidential powers to pressure the Department of Justice (DOJ) into doing his personal bidding.
Eric Trump's comments came after his father announcedthat the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided his Mar-a-Lago estate and "even broke into my safe!"
Why the FBI raided Trump's home is still murky, though The New York Times reported the search was related to classified documents Trump brought with him to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House.
Eric Trump insisted that the raid would not have taken place without the "explicit approval" of Democratic President Joe Biden," adding that "a field office would not even consider doing this without the sign-off of the President of the United States."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Eric Trump said:
"This is the system, and make no mistake Jesse, I know the White House as well as anyone. I spent a lot of time there and I know the system."
"This did not happen without Joe Biden's explicit approval. The White House approved of this. Mark my words, Jesse, it will come out. You see the Press Secretary [Karine Jean-Pierre] out there today, [saying] 'no knowledge at all.'"
"Give me a break. A field office wouldn't take, they wouldn't even think about doing this without the sign-off of the President of the United States."
"This is raiding one of the most famous houses on Planet Earth, one of the most famous people, probably the most famous person on Planet Earth."
"Give me a break."
There is no evidence that the White House had ordered the raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump released an official statement to decry the search, which comes as the DOJ ramps up its investigation into Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, the day a White nationalist-led mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 general election had been stolen.
Former President Trump has long been accused of violating his executive powers, and for many, Eric Trump's comments were a very telling admission of how his father conducted himself during his time in the White House.
He was widely mocked as a result.
Eric Trump has in the past been mocked for his often telling remarks about his father's administration.
Earlier this year, he was mocked after he made a hilariously accurate Freudian slip while discussing a filing by Justice Department special counsel John Durham alleging Hillary Clinton's campaign paid a tech company to hack into Trump Tower servers to look for links between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russia.
He went on to criticize New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose investigation he has repeatedly impugned, claiming her office has been "ignoring" allegations of "fraud" and "all sorts of offenses" because of political partisanship.
At the time, he said his father had spent three years leading his "invest..." before trailing off, and was laughed at for appearing to imply his father saw leading the country more as an "investment" than an "administration."
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads