Comment: Epstein matter places MAGA, Democrats on common ground
Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 17, 2025
By Nia-Malika Henderson / Bloomberg Opinion
The monster that President Donald Trump helped to create is now turning on him, and, try as he might, he can’t tame it.
“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring,” Trump said Tuesday. “And I don’t understand why it keeps going, I think, well, really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.” He kept it up on Wednesday, asserting on his Truth Social platform that the Democrats’ “new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullsh*t’ hook, line, and sinker.”
This, of course, is spin, Trump’s ineffective attempt to steer his angry base elsewhere. But now, that angry base has company, as Democrats sense an opportunity to undermine Trump’s brand as the disruptive, populist outsider who will tear down a rigged system.
On social media and in the halls of Congress, Democrats, who have their own conspiracy theories about Epstein, now sound like Republicans in calling for the release of the files after Trump’s Department of Justice and FBI released a memo dismissing the conspiratorial MAGA narratives as “unfounded theories.”
Democrats have claimed, without evidence, that Trump himself is in the files (something he has denied) as has Elon Musk, in a now-deleted social media post.
In forcing two unsuccessful votes to release the files, with possibly more to come, Democrats have set up a simple contrast argument, casting themselves as populists out to “drain the swamp” as Trump might say, and portraying Republicans as hypocritical protectors of a possibly criminal elite.
“There is something rotten in Washington. This is a question of whose side are you on. Are you on the side of the people? Are you on the side of America’s children?” said California Rep. Ro Khanna during a floor speech on Tuesday. “Or are you on the side of the rich and powerful who have had their thumb on the scales and shafted Americans for decades.”
Democrats are in sync with public opinion on this. According to a CNN poll, just 3 percent of those surveyed say they are satisfied with the information released by the federal government in the Epstein case.
The dissatisfaction is driven by Democrats, 56 percent of whom aren’t satisfied and by Republican leaning independents, 53 percent of whom feel the same way. The numbers among Republicans are lower, but not insignificant. Some 40 percent of Republicans are dissatisfied, with 38 percent saying it doesn’t matter to them either way.
An internal Democratic poll obtained by Politico finds similar numbers, with 70 percent of voters saying law enforcement is withholding information about people connected to Epstein, a financier who cultivated relationships with scores of wealthy people, including Trump. Epstein hanged himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while facing federal criminal charges of sex trafficking minors.
The numbers should be sobering for Trump, as 61 percent of his voters feel similarly.
That may explain why House Speaker Mike Johnson, who usually contorts himself in the service of Trump’s wishes, is asking for full transparency as MAGA world awaits further disclosures. Yet congressional efforts will likely go nowhere without Trump’s approval.
To MAGA, Epstein is the murdered ringleader of an elite Democratic cabal of pedophiles.
To MAGA, Trump, back in office, would expose and jail them all.
There is no evidence for this conspiracy theory, but Trump’s administration is filled with Epstein truthers, who often signaled to the base that they would deliver, if elected.
“We need to release the Epstein list,” then-Sen. J.D. Vance said on Theo Von’s podcast in October 2024. “That is an important thing.”
And in tapping Kash Patel and Dan Bongino to lead the FBI, Trump seemed to signal major moves on Epstein, something Bondi has also played into over the last months.
“Pam Bondi has created so much DOUBT and CHAOS in this whole thing. There’s no reason for all of this. Either it’s a MASSIVE COVER-UP or she’s just FOULED IT UP,” said Glenn Beck in a video posted on social media. Podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump, ripped his administration over its handling of the case on Tuesday. And MAGA activist Laura Loomer called this week for the investigation to be taken out of Bondi’s hands.
Trump has stood by Bondi, saying that she might release “credible” information on Epstein going forward.
The question of what it would take for Trump’s loyal followers to turn on him has been speculated about for years, with no clear answer as Trump’s grip on his base only tightened. Now, the Epstein debacle offers a possible answer.
“A lot of people in MAGA, they really want to know more information about the people that were involved with Jeffrey Epstein,” said Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. “Is there a blackmail list? And are there foreign country’s governments involved? And there is nothing wrong with people continuing to ask that.”
Democrats, aiming to take advantage of rare divisions among Republicans, will keep asking questions as will prominent MAGA figures, an unforeseen alliance that could erode Trump’s overall standing.
Yet, for Democrats, this decision is not without risks, as Republicans could turn it into a witch hunt pushed by Democrats out to get Trump, even though the conspiracy theory has its roots in MAGA world.
Stranger things have happened. Trump and his allies will have to do more to satisfy MAGA than wave away the files as unreliable propaganda created by Democratic administrations.
But it’s hard to imagine what could quiet the current fervor. Appointing a special counsel and producing a report is one possible option being discussed by the White House, according to Axios. But even that could seem like deep-state foot-dragging given that Bondi already claimed the “client list” was sitting on her desk.
“Trump is someone who habitually acts like he is covering something up, whether he is or not,” said Jesse Walker, author of the book, “United States of Paranoia.” “It’s very combustible and unpredictable right now.”
Typically, chaos is where Trump thrives, unsettling and overwhelming his opponents in the process. But in switching sides on Epstein, Trump is in uncharted territory, testing his sway over his conspiratorial base that expected major revelations and is now only getting unconvincing rhetoric.
Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A former senior political reporter for CNN and the Washington Post, she has covered politics and campaigns for almost two decades.
