In this Substack Live interview, David speaks with Sarah Matthews, who served as Deputy Press Secretary under Donald Trump during his first term. She recounts her experience inside the Trump White House and her resignation following January 6. Matthews describes a chaotic and fear-driven workplace culture marked by internal backstabbing, sycophancy, and a constant effort to appease Trump—especially as he spiraled deeper into 2020 election denialism. She recalls efforts to filter what Trump saw in order to manage his mood and how staffers would sometimes avoid him altogether.
The conversation shifts to Trump’s evolving and contradictory responses to the Epstein scandal, which Matthews sees as a rare instance where the controversy is actually sticking. She suggests Trump likely had knowledge of Epstein’s abuses and intentionally looked the other way, which now has him flailing for narratives to deflect blame. Matthews also expresses disillusionment with the GOP’s whitewashing of January 6 and its shift away from figures like Romney and McCain, leaving her politically adrift and frustrated by a party that punishes truth-telling and rewards extremism.
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