Jack Houghton:
Welcome back. This week, Vice President JD Vance appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast to make some fairly stunning admissions about the Epstein files.
JD Vance:
I’m like one of the OG Epstein conspiracy theorists. I’ve probably gone down every single rabbit hole.
Joe Rogan:
Well, most people think he was Mossad.
JD Vance:
Yeah, Mossad or CIA or some other deep state, whether in America, Israel or another country.
Joe Rogan:
Or both.
JD Vance:
Or both. Look, he clearly had connections to the highest levels of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence. Epstein seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of centre.
Jack Houghton:
Well, joining me this week is the Chief Economist at the Institute of Public Affairs and, of course, former Washington correspondent for the Australian newspaper, Adam Creighton. Welcome back to the show.
Adam Creighton:
Thanks for having me.
Jack Houghton:
Now, it’s fairly candid a setting for a vice president to be talking about the Epstein files.
Adam Creighton:
Yeah. Look, it certainly is, but it’s frankly one of the things I really like about JD Vance. I mean, I can’t think of any American politicians or really any politicians, full stop, that are so honest in public forums like that on lengthy podcasts talking about the Epstein files with such candour. I mean, just like JD Vance, I went down all those rabbit holes too with the Epstein files. And frankly, I just don’t know what to think. It’s extremely complicated, extremely confusing. But the fact that the Vice President said that he did have links to those intelligence organisations is a really remarkable admission. And frankly, I don’t think that admission is going to put the whole issue to bed. I mean, probably on the contrary, I would say.
Jack Houghton:
Now, Adam, we’ve just seen Donald Trump has delivered this address to the world. What do you make of nearly all American broadcasters, bar some of the more legitimate ones such as Fox News, just refusing to take it live? Some of them took parts. MS NOW took a few grabs, but then they went away to fact-checkers. What do you make of this?
Adam Creighton:
Well, it’s pretty extraordinary. They should have taken the whole thing live. And actually, the question just reminded me of Anthony Albanese’s Address to the Nation, remember, a few months ago, which was complete nonsense about fuel. Nothing was really announced and yet every single channel.
Jack Houghton:
He speeched us out.
Adam Creighton:
I know. Every single channel took it live, all three minutes or four minutes of nonsense of non-announcement. So the gravity of that speech was far, far more important. So I really do think it’s incumbent that they should have taken it live. Certainly it had far more important messages than our prime minister delivered. But once again, it’s just an example of the far left-wing bias of most of the US mainstream media.
Jack Houghton:
Yeah, well said. Well, Joe Biden has a new memoir out. Let’s have a grab.
Sunny Hostin:
Joe Biden: Since after the presidency, I’ve had a lot of people ask me, “Joe, what have you been doing?” I’ve been dealing with a cancer diagnosis and I’ve been getting treatment and it’s been going really well. I’ve written a book about my time as president. It’s called Promise Me, America. It’s coming out of November and it’s available for pre-order now. It’s about the challenges we faced as a nation, about the decisions I made, and why I made them.
Jack Houghton:
Adam, what do we think he means by Promise Me, America? What does that mean?
Adam Creighton:
Look, it’s barely grammatical. I mean, honestly, I don’t know who buys these books. It’s purely propaganda. There’s barely going to be anything in it that’s actually real. I mean, the book really should have been titled, who was actually running the show, who was making those decisions. I mean, he was talking about decisions he made, but look, I mean, I seriously don’t think he made that many. Or if he was making them, he was being heavily influenced by his advisors.
And that grab just I think reminded everyone that he could barely speak as president. I mean, it was a really, really bad presidency. And frankly, Democrats are probably a bit annoyed that the book is coming out before the midterm elections, because it’s just going to remind everyone of how hopeless they were for that four-year period. So maybe he’s a bit annoyed with the Democrats a bit because, obviously, they didn’t let him run again. So who knows there? But look, I’d be very surprised if that’s a bestseller.
Jack Houghton:
Yeah, well said. I want to talk about The View. There was this moment on The View in the wake of Lindsey Graham’s death where they tried to turn the issue into one of identity politics. Let’s take a listen.
Sunny Hostin:
And while she is a certified optician and while she has done great work in that field, I don’t think that she should be representing the people of South Carolina and the US Senate. I don’t believe in that.
Joy Behar:
Speaker 6: Isn’t that the very definition of a DEI?
Sunny Hostin:
Correct. Correct. It’s everything that the Republican Party stands against. Everything, everything. It’s DEI, nepotism, all these things thrown in together. And at this very same time, Pete Hegseth blocked more promotions for women, in particular for women of colour to become admirals, and so this is happening. I feel like our government is fundamentally broken, and I disagree with that sort of-
Jack Houghton:
So Adam, what do you make of this debate? This is in reference to Lindsey Graham’s sister getting involved and taking over. Do you think that’s fair commentary from the view?
Adam Creighton:
No, no. Look, I just think just a reminder of how bitter and nasty these women are. I mean, normally, they’d be celebrating the appointment of a woman. And frankly, it’s the prerogative of the Governor of South Carolina to choose whoever he wants to replace Lindsey Graham until the special election occurs in November. So look, she’s only going to be Senator, his sister for a few months. I thought it was a nice thing of the governor to do.
I mean, let’s be honest, whoever he chose, they would’ve been furious about it. And Lindsey Graham died very suddenly. Look, I think it’s a nice gesture of the Governor to appoint his sister. She sounds like a competent woman, an educated woman, probably holds similar views to her brother, so I think it’s a fairly sensible choice for the government to make. And just to reiterate, it’s only for a few months, then there’ll be a proper election.
Jack Houghton:
Great to have you here, Adam. Thank you so much for your time. We’re going to take a quick break.
This transcript with Adam Creighton talking on Media Show Sky News Australia from 17 July 2026 has been edited for clarity.
