President Trump is trying, yet again, to climb out of the political mire into which he has sunk over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

On Wednesday, Trump sought to pin the blame on unnamed Republicans for getting “duped” by Democrats over the lack of new revelations about the disgraced financier and sexual predator.

“It’s a hoax,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he was meeting with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamid Al Khalifa. “It’s started by Democrats. It’s been run by the Democrats for four years.”

Trump further complained that “some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net and so they try and do the Democrats’ work. The Democrats are good for nothing other than these hoaxes.”

Such claims point to a deep level of frustration on the president’s part about a controversy that — unusually for him — has left his own base discontented.

His anger was also apparent in a social media post on Wednesday morning, where he lamented about a supposed Democratic-pushed “SCAM” over Epstein. Trump griped that “my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bull----’ hook, line and sinker.”

It remains to be seen whether his appeal to party and personal loyalty will be enough to quell the........

© The Hill