NEW YORK (AP) — As his supporters erupt over the Justice Department’s failure to release much-hyped records in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation, President Donald Trump’s strategy has been to downplay the issue.
His problem? That nothing-to-see-here approach doesn’t work for those who have learned from him that they must not give up until the government’s deepest, darkest secrets are exposed.
Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI abruptly walked back the notion that there’s an Epstein client list of elites who participated in the wealthy New York financier’s trafficking of underage girls. Trump quickly defended Attorney General Pam Bondi and chided a reporter for daring to ask about the documents.
The online reaction was swift, with followers calling the Republican president “out of touch” and demanding transparency.
On Saturday, Trump used his Truth Social platform to again attempt to call supporters off the Epstein trail amid reports of infighting between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino over the issue. He suggested the turmoil was undermining his administration — “all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
That did little to mollify Trump’s supporters, who urged him to release the files or risk losing his base. At least one follower responded to Trump’s post by saying it seemed as though the president was just trying to make the issue go away — but assured him it wouldn’t.
The political crisis is especially challenging for Trump because it’s one of his own making. The president has spent years stoking dark theories and embracing QAnon-tinged propaganda that casts him as the only savior who can demolish the “deep state.”
Now that he’s running the federal government, the community he helped build is coming back to haunt him. It’s demanding answers he either isn’t able to or does not want to provide.
“The faulty assumption Trump and others make is they can peddle conspiracy theories without any blowback,” said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University. “The Epstein case is a neat encapsulation that it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle.”
It literally does not matter. He is not in any way less able to hurt people, grift money, or violate the constitution. I hate articles like this.
I disagree. it matters that people see that other people are outraged too. This is crucial to get protests started
Agreed, the media is not here to help us they just want to cash in on the chaos.
Oh, bullshit. His believers will believe what Trump tells them to believe.
This. All of my coworkers are hard-core Trump supporters when the news that the Epstein list would not be released all of them over the last couple of days did not say a word about anything until recently when Trump said that the list was written by Obama, Hillary, etc. now they are up in arms, screaming That they are trying to destroy Trump‘s legacy. Stupid is as stupid does.
It isn’t haunting him much. These stories appear designed to placate, deflect anger. Don’t be fooled by them.
More bleached blond inJustICE from the all new! Department of JustICE
Seriously, what is wrong with her fucking face? It’s like there’s demons competing to burst out of it.
Oh no! The consequences of my own actions!
