In just two words, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg summed up Donald Trumps attempts to get people to stop asking about his decades-long friendship with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.Buttigieg was asked about how Trump posted a fake AI-generated video to social media showing former President Barack Obama getting arrested last week during an appearance on the syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club earlier this week. Related Pete Buttigieg explains how the Epstein files might tear apart the MAGA base: Extraordinary Its his supporters saying, Wait a minute, youre insulting me. And thats a whole different thing. They tried to rig the election, and they got caught. And there should be very severe consequences for that, Trump told reporters on July 22, referring to the 2016 presidential election. A representative for Obama called the accusations bizarre and a weak attempt at distraction.Buttigieg noted that its telling that Trump made this accusation as he faces sharp criticism from his base for refusing to release documents from the investigation of Epstein. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today So Trump says, Were gonna release the files, were gonna release the files, were gonna release the files,' Buttigieg said, referring to files from the Epstein investigation. Then he says, Were not gonna release the files.'And people are mad, including MAGA, saying, Wait a minute, you said you were going to release this information and youre not. And what does he do? Hes like, Uuhhhh, were gonna arrest Obama!' The hosts laughed, and then Buttigieg summed up what he believes Trump is trying to do with a quippy phrase. What? That has nothing to do with anything, but its the distraction machine.Whenever things get hard for Trump, he fires up the Distraction Machine, Buttigieg wrote in the caption for the post. Were not falling for it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pete Buttigieg (@pete.buttigieg)Trump has been under fire all month after his administration announced that it would not release information learned from the investigation of Epstein, including the wealthy clients for whom Epstein is rumored to have provided underage victims to sexually abuse. Trump has spent the month making increasingly hostile statements about people who want the rumored Epstein client list to be made public.Last week, House Speaker Mike Johjnson announced that the House would adjourn early in what was seen as an effort to stall Democrats attempts to make the Justice Department release the Epstein files. The House is scheduled to reconvene in September.Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors. While the medical examiner determined that his death was a suicide, many people, especially on the right, do not believe that it was, instead asserting that he was killed to keep him silent about the clients for whom he found children to sexually abuse. Many officials associated with Trump had spent years repeating the same rumors, andTrump himself said repeatedly in 2024 that the Epstein list of clients needed to be released.In February, Attorney General Bondi said that she was reviewing a lot of names related to the Epstein investigation and said that the Epstein list is sitting on my desk right now to review.But earlier this month, the Department of Justice released a memo that said there was no secret client list and reaffirmed the 2019 finding that Epstein died by suicide. Many Trump supporters were outraged that the rumored client list wouldnt be released, while many on the left speculated that the reason Bondi wasnt releasing it is because Trump himself or at least high-ranking members of his administration is on it.Trump had a decades-long friendship with Epsteinand joked about how his friend was fun and terrific andliked women on the younger side. Trump has also beenfound liable for sexual abuse by a jury, hasadmitted to sexually assaulting womenin the past, and hasadmitted to walking in on underage girlsas they changed clothes. He has been accused of sexual assault or other forms of sexual improprietyby at least 27 women.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.