Epstein: Why MAGA won't move on

Having "nurtured conspiracy theories for his entire political career," Donald Trump is suddenly in danger of "being consumed by one," said Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times. His MAGA movement is "in revolt" this week over the insistence by Trump, his Justice Department, and the FBI that there are no "incriminating client lists" or scandalous new documents to be revealed regarding Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier found dead in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls. The statement sparked immediate "fury and disappointment" on the Right, where MAGA influencers—including now FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino—have insisted for years that Epstein was murdered by the Deep State and that the release of a client list would expose a sprawling cabal of elite, liberal pedophiles. Most of the MAGA rage was initially directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said in February she had the Epstein list "sitting on my desk" and then announced last week no list existed. Trump then began taking fire when he implored "weakling" supporters to "not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about." But MAGA influencers like Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, and Steve Bannon are continuing to stoke MAGA's rage, warning Trump, in Jones' words, that "this isn't going away."

Trump's quandary is that he's "in the Epstein files," said William Kristol in The Bulwark. He was friends with Epstein—a neighbor in Palm Beach, Fla.—for 15 years. Trump once said they had a shared taste in "beautiful women," adding with a chuckle that Epstein liked his "on the younger side." Trump flew more than once on Epstein's notorious jet, the "Lolita Express," and author Michael Wolff recently claimed that Epstein showed him photos taken at his home of topless young women sitting on Trump's lap. No wonder his DOJ says that "no further disclosure" of Epstein documents, photos, and videos "would be warranted." To add to the suspicion, said Steve Benen in MSNBC.com, Trump is now saying that the "Epstein files" were "written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey," and his other political enemies. So is Trump's position now that the files "do exist but they're fake?"

Files from the lengthy federal investigations no doubt exist, said Andrew McCarthy in National Review. But "the Justice Department and the FBI are not in the transparency business," and it would be highly unethical for them to release documents naming people who associated with Epstein but were not charged with crimes. Good luck convincing MAGA of that, said Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo. Its cultlike belief that a cabal of "rich and powerful pedophiles" controls the world "runs really, really deep," and if Trump keeps stonewalling, "the Epstein wildfire" will continue to burn out of control.

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"This has to be bewildering" for Trump, said Amanda Marcotte in Salon. If his fans can shrug off his own history of sexual assault, why are they so hung up on Epstein? The answer lies in "the age of the victims." It's only by positioning themselves as righteous warriors against pedophilia—the through line of MAGA conspiracy theories from Pizzagate to QAnon—that Trump's supporters find "moral absolution." Trump fans "need the Epstein files" if they're to keep seeing themselves as "the good guys." If they think Trump is protecting pedophiles, they may see him as another villain—and themselves for what they are: his "accomplices."