I wonder if the MAGA faithful are walking through the rain today, heartbroken, tears streaming down their cheeks, remembering the good times when it was just mass deportations and fun Nazi salutes. I wonder if they are writing furiously in their journals—or, OK on their Facebook feeds—about the events of the last week: “Dear diary, he promised me the Epstein files but he broke my heart.”
Maybe they’re already casting watery eyes around for their next crush, somebody as virile and godly as Donald Trump but without all the, you know, pedophilia buddy-buddy stuff.
Yes, the conspiracy theory involving Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s one-time best friend and former purveyor of Love Island, Jr. Edition, is back in the news six years after he was found hanging in his jail cell and less than six months after Attorney General Pam Bondi released the “first phase” of the so-called “Epstein files,” writing in a press release at the time that, “The files released today (shed) light on Epstein’s extensive network and begins to provide the public with long overdue accountability.”
Now, apparently, it turns out the first phase was also the last. No more Epstein dirt is forthcoming—no names, no client list. That’s that! And MAGA is pissed. House Republicans have expressed frustration. Laura Loomer is demanding a special counsel investigation. Human blockhead Dan Bongino was so upset he took the day off work on Friday. In fact, whether or not he’s still the FBI Deputy Director remains unclear. Even the president didn’t seem to know. On Sunday, when asked whether Bongino remained in his position, Trump responded, “I think so.”
I think so?
Regardless, it appears that we’re seeing a true rift emerging between those who used the Epstein story to get themselves elected and those are trying to tamp down the Epstein story to keep themselves in office. (Making matters more complicated is the fact that some of the key players are technically in both camps.)
And hovering over it all is the story’s central question: what was Trump’s role—in Epstein’s orbit, or in keeping Epstein’s orbit under wraps? Or both?
Other than the president himself, the person who knew the most is dead. The person who knew the second-most is in prison. According to The Daily Mail, Ghislane Maxwell has said she’s willing to testify to Congress, but nobody has contacted her to do so. On Monday night, meanwhile, House Republicans on the Rules Committee voted to block the release of the full Epstein files. Huh.
(The broader GOP majority in the House on Tuesday did the same—in a 211-210 vote—following a procedural resolution brought by Democrats attempting to secure the files’ release.)
No wonder folks are upset. After all, aren’t the same people who took to the airwaves day after day to demand the release of these files now refusing to do so? Didn’t Kash Patel claim that he would expose any/all conspiracies protecting Epstein once he became FBI director? So then, now that he has the job, why did he tell Joe Rogan that he would “stay in his lane” regarding Elon Musk’s incredible claim that Trump is in the files? Isn’t going after pedophiles exactly the FBI’s lane?
Trump himself has gone into overdrive on social media, throwing out all kinds of chaff to fend off the grenades being launched from his own side. As his deportation agenda meets stiff resistance and new inflation numbers belie his claim that prices have fallen since he took office, he’s flailing, blaming the Epstein kerfuffle on Obama, stealing soccer trophies and bizarrely threatening to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship (which he has no authority to do).
Whether or not Trump himself took advantage of Epstein’s offerings, I do not know. It seems that he was well-aware of Epstein’s proclivities. There’s at least one photo I’ve seen in which a young girl is seated on Epstein’s lap while Trump sits beside them, his hand resting on the girl’s bare thigh. I know the author and Trump biographer Michael Wolff has claimed to have seen photos of topless girls on Epstein’s island while Trump was present. And I remember that Trump has talked about walking in on naked beauty pageant contestants; that he has admitted to fantasizing about dating his daughter.
We know that an anonymous woman once sued Trump, claiming he raped her when she was thirteen—Trump denied the allegations, and the suit was later dropped. We know that other women have accused him of sexual assault and one of them, E. Jean Carroll, won millions in court after a jury found that he had sexually abused her. We know that Trump has always bragged about his sexual prowess. We know that he’s a f—ing pig. What does all of that add up to, if anything?
Is it possible the conspiracy theories that have animated MAGA since its inception will now swallow their leader? Scandal has never stuck to Trump before. Will this time be different? I don’t know. I hate that Jeffrey Epstein even existed. No good will come from his sordid life, but perhaps Epstein’s past crimes will help to ameliorate Trump’s current ones.
It’s likely, as Trump has infamously claimed, that he could shoot a person on Fifth Avenue and get away with it but that’s because American’s love murder. It’s kind of our thing. But when it comes to exploiting (white) children, we’re not so thrilled. A couple days ago, Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on Twitter that, “America deserves the truth about Jeffrey Epstein and the rich powerful elites in his circle. The line is drawn with anyone who abuses children and vulnerable innocent people.”
When you’ve lost the Jewish space laser lady, you’ve lost the nation.
The post Opinion: Why It Matters That Trump’s MAGA Faithful Are Revolting appeared first on The Daily Beast.
