Donald Trump was asked yesterday if he’d consider pardoning convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, and his odd answer had CNN anchor Jake Tapper stunned.

At the Oval Office on Monday, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins told Trump that Maxwell’s only chance of getting out of jail would be if Trump granted her clemency or gave her a pardon. “Is that something you’re open to?” she asked.

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“Who are we talking about?” Trump answered, and Collins repeated Maxwell’s name.

“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long,” Trump responded, even though he has spoken about her recently. “I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look. Did they reject that?

Collins said that Maxwell tried to appeal and that the Supreme Court refused her petition.

“I see,” Trump said. “Well, I’ll take a look at it. I will speak to the DOJ.”

Another reporter asked why Maxwell would be a candidate for clemency, which is usually granted in cases of excessive punishment, wrongdoing by law enforcement officials, or possible wrongful conviction. It’s unclear how any of these would apply to Maxwell’s case.

“I don’t know,” Trump replied. “I’d have to speak to the DOJ. I’ll look at it.”

Later, on CNN, Collins talked to Tapper about the interaction and said that it was “notable” because it leaves open the possibility that Trump will pardon Maxwell, who was found guilty in a federal trial on several counts related to her child sex trafficking scheme with Jeffrey Epstein

“That’s sure bizarre!” Tapper responded.

Tapper was likely referring to the bizarre nature of Trump claiming not to know who Maxwell is after he made it a central promise of his 2024 campaign to release documents associated with the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, after his Department of Justice interviewed Maxwell this summer and she was was moved to a lower security prison, and after Trump was directly asked about pardoning Maxwell in August in an interview with Newsmax. At the time, Trump appeared to know who Maxwell was and stressed that he was “allowed to do it,” that is, pardon her.

Earlier this year, Tapper published a book, Original Sin, which claimed that there was a conspiracy to cover up President Joe Biden’s health problems before he dropped out of the presidential race.

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