MSNBC host and former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on September 8, 2025

Attorney and former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said Monday the more Vice President JD Vance is forced to defend President Donald Trump over the latter's relationship with convicted child predator Jeffrey Epstein, the more difficult it would harm his potential presidential campaign.

During a Monday segment on MSNBC, Steele said, "...that relationship becomes a part of his story, too, because you defended a guy who was friends with a pedophile. Now try that in a sentence and see how it works when you're running for office."

"That's the one thing Donald Trump cannot undo," he said of Trump's relationship with Epstein.

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"And so, I think that there's a lot, a lot more here to unpack, depending on how the stories play themselves out. But to me, that's what's so important about this, this moment, this, this pictorial of this relationship. I think we should be very fearful of someone like JD Vance and Peter Thiel because Donald Trump is an empty vessel."

Lucy Caldwell, a former Republican strategist, also spoke during the segment and said of Trump, "He's an extremely dangerous, empty vessel. But he's a shapeshifter, right? It's part of how he can go about the Epstein incident in this way.

She added: “JD Vance is a person who is is a shapeshifter in a different way, in a more pernicious way, but has a long term plan for this country that is very well thought out and very articulate and very, very frightening. And so I think the more that we can attach people like Peter Thiel and JD Vance to the story of Donald Trump, the better."

She further said that Trump is not likely to come out of the scandal "unscathed."

READ MORE: 'Now this is bromance': Social media erupts over Trump's 'explicit love letter' to Epstein

The Wall Street Journal ignited a firestorm Monday by releasing images of a sexually suggestive birthday message allegedly penned by Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein back in 2003.

The note, reportedly part of a birthday tribute book marking Epstein’s 50th birthday, includes a nude sketch in which Trump’s signature is stylized as pubic hair. Trump denied signing the letter.

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