MAGA youth leader Charlie Kirk says he’s done talking about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein after President Donald Trump begged him to rein in attacks on Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Kirk told The Charlie Kirk Show listeners on Monday that he thinks the administration committed a “messaging fumble” on Epstein and that he’d like to see the administration unseal more information about its investigation into the late sex offender, who died by suicide in 2019.
But Kirk, the founder of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, said he would leave any more comments on the matter to the Trump administration.
“Plenty was said this last weekend at our event about Epstein,” Kirk said, referring to this past weekend’s Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. “Honestly, I’m done talking about Epstein for the time being. I’m gonna trust my friends in the administration, I’m gonna trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, ball’s in their hands.”
His disclosure came after CNN reported that Trump called Kirk on Saturday to express his support for Bondi.
Bondi has come into MAGA’s crosshairs after the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation acknowledged in a July 6 memo that no Epstein “client list” existed and that he died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019, rather than being murdered—the topic of widespread conspiracie among the president’s supportres. Bondi said in February that the “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now” awaiting review.
The revelation has sent MAGA into a tailspin, with the president’s supporters alleging a cover-up and calling on Bondi to resign. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, a true believer in the Epstein conspiracy, took Bondi to task at the White House on Wednesday and has threatened to resign if she remains, according to CNN.
Kirk had played host to some of the Bondi criticism during the Florida conference, asking the crowd during a conversation with radio host Megyn Kelly whether it preferred Bondi or Bongino. The crowd overwhelmingly said Bongino.
“It’s 7,000 to zero,” Kirk said.
But on Monday, Kirk name-checked the three law enforcement officials at the heart of the MAGA civil war: Bondi, Bongino, and FBI Director Kash Patel, who have all squabbled over the release of the memo.
“I’m gonna trust my friends Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, my friend Pam Bondi, all these guys—Todd Blanche—I’m gonna trust them to solve it,” Kirk said. “Ball’s in their court. I think that there was plenty of, let’s say, speeches that were directed towards this topic this last weekend. So we don’t need to spend our valuable time on this program relitigating it.”
Trump has publicly backed Bondi amid the furor, inviting her to his suite at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium to watch the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday and questioning why MAGA supporters cared about the sex offender.
The White House also issued a statement to CNN that said Bondi, Patel, Bongino, “and the countless other heroes of our law enforcement community are dedicated to executing President Trump’s agenda.”
Kirk clarified his Monday statements in an X post, calling the blowback over the Epstein files a “lame non-controversy” and saying that he would revisit the Epstein case if there were updates.
“Yes, I spent the weekend talking about Epstein, as did many of our speakers at SAS. Nothing was off limits,” he said. “I discussed how the communication and transparency could be much improved, how the base wasn’t going to just move on, and provided options for ways forward.”
“Now, I’m giving them space to operate,” he added. “The ball is in their court, and I’m trusting those in charge, many of whom I know personally and consider friends, to find a solution, which I’m confident is in the works. I will be more than happy to talk about Epstein again as updates come.”
The post MAGA Mouthpiece Goes Quiet on Epstein After Trump Begged Him appeared first on The Daily Beast.
