A comedian joked about President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein before introducing New York Attorney General Letitia James at a rally for New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Monday evening.
Gianmarco Soresi introduced James, who has been indicted on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, before she spoke at the “Our Time Has Come” rally in support of Mamdani. His jokes made the audience laugh.
Newsweek reached out to the White House by email outside of normal business hours for comment.
Why It Matters
James’ appearance at the rally marked her first public one since being indicted by Trump’s Department of Justice. The jokes highlighted issues involving the White House that have sparked debate on transparency or free speech.
What To Know
Soresi began joking about Trump’s opposition to comedian Jimmy Kimmel. He said: “I’ve seen Trump go after his political enemies. We’ve seen Trump go after free speech, late night hosts. It’s very scary for me as a comedian because I haven’t been on Kimmel yet.”
Kimmel’s show was temporarily suspended over comments he made about MAGA’s response to the death of Charlie Kirk, sparking a tense debate about the line between free speech and hate speech.
Soresi then joked about Epstein, disgraced financier who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges, and his past relation to Trump.
He said: “I’ll be honest, I’m I’m a little flustered. Backstage. I met Zohran for the first time in person. And this might be somewhat ageist for me to say. It’s just so nice to support a politician that’s too young to have been friends with Jeffrey Epstein.”
When James took the stage, she spoke about using the justice system for “political gain” but did not mention Trump or any other figures by name. “We see powerful voices trying to silence truth and punish dissent and weaponize justice for political gain,” she said. “We are witnessing the fraying of our democracy, the erosion of our system of government. This, my friends, is a defining moment in our history.”
The indictment against her alleges that James misrepresented the use of a Virginia property on a 2020 mortgage application, claiming it was a secondary residence to obtain more favorable terms, when it was allegedly used as a rental. James has denied any wrongdoing.
The DOJ indictment of James fueled accusations that the Trump administration had politicized the department for retribution against political enemies. James successfully tried Trump in a civil fraud case in 2023 and has been one of his most prominent political adversaries.
What People Are Saying
At the rally, Mamdani said: ““For years, you have fought the good fight for New Yorkers, and now it’s our time to fight for you.”
Abbe Lowell, attorney for James, in a statement Thursday: “We are deeply concerned that this case is driven by President Trump’s desire for revenge,” adding, “When a President can publicly direct charges to be filed against someone—when it was reported that career attorneys concluded none were warranted—it marks a serious attack on the rule of law. We will fight these charges in every process allowed in the law.”
What Happens Next
The New York City mayoral election takes place November 4. James is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Virginia on October 24.
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