Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett accused the president of protecting loyalists no matter how serious their alleged crimes.
One of President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics joined Joanna Coles on The Daily Beast Podcast to discuss what she described as an “abusive relationship” felt by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress during Trump’s second administration.
“He does have kind of like a mob-like situation set up where there are people that will come after you,” Crockett, 44, told Coles, describing what she said happens to those who cross the president and why Republicans are “afraid” to be on the other side of him.
The congresswoman, who was sworn into Congress in 2023 and entered the Texas U.S. Senate race in December 2025, has built a reputation on Capitol Hill for speeches against Trump and frequent sparring with MAGA lawmakers. She has maintained that she wants the American people to “stand up” to the president, whom she labeled a “bully.”
“There are people that will threaten you, and you are constantly looking over your shoulder,” Crockett told Coles about the consequences of speaking up against the president, adding that she makes sure to wear a bulletproof vest because she doesn’t know when she’ll be in a “big, big, big situation.”
Crockett, whom Trump, 79, has derided as a “low IQ person,” has emerged as a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s release of the Epstein files. As a member of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, she sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel demanding answers about Trump’s ties to the late sex offender and the Justice Department’s handling of the records.
“We’re not trying to protect pedophiles. And that is the message that we want to get across,” Crockett said when asked by Coles to explain what is happening with the release of the Epstein files, which were supposed to be released under a law passed by Congress and signed by Trump as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The files have not been made public in full by the required deadline.
“Right now. It is a matter of if you are close enough to the president, it doesn’t matter if you are a drug trafficker, it doesn’t matter if you’re a child rapist,” Crockett told Coles.
“If you’re close to him that you don’t have anything to worry about. But if you are on the opposite side of him, that’s when you become a bad person,” the congresswoman added.
Crockett—who told Coles that, to her understanding, possible litigation against Bondi could result from the Attorney General’s handling of the files—stressed that the Epstein files are not a political issue for survivors or Democrats.
While Trump has resisted releasing the files, and the DOJ has defended his name when it appears, former President and First Lady Bill and Hillary Clinton have also declined to appear for deposition after being subpoenaed by House Oversight Committee Republicans.
When asked by Coles about the direction and leadership in the Democratic Party, Crockett admitted that she thinks Democrats “overthink stuff” and that “whoever figures out how to pivot best, is going to emerge as the leader,” naming California Governor Gavin Newsom as someone who has been able to fit the moment with his social media use, where he frequently trolls the president.
“We are living in a bold moment where we have an unhinged, most likely mentally ill, chief who’s a con in chief, and we have people that are scared on both sides, Democrats and Republicans,” Crockett said, adding that she has sent letters and spoken to doctors about the president’s mental and physical decline.
“There are a number of medical professionals that believe that he is in bad, bad shape,” Crockett said.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
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