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Trump faces Maga meltdown over Epstein reversal

Author
AFP,
Publish Date
Wed, 9 Jul 2025, 1:13pm
US President Donald Trump and his former adviser Elon Musk have clashed about disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / AFP
US President Donald Trump and his former adviser Elon Musk have clashed about disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / AFP

Trump faces Maga meltdown over Epstein reversal

Author
AFP,
Publish Date
Wed, 9 Jul 2025, 1:13pm

Donald Trump鈥檚 Maga base is up in arms after his Administration effectively shut down conspiracy theories related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that have become an obsession for the US President鈥檚 diehard supporters.

Trump鈥檚 Department of Justice and the FBI said in a memo made public on Monday that there is no evidence that the disgraced financier kept a 鈥渃lient list鈥 or was blackmailing powerful figures.

They also dismissed the claim that Epstein was murdered in jail, confirming his death by suicide, and said they would not be releasing any more information on the probe.

It marked the first time Trump鈥檚 officials had publicly scotched the stories - pushed by numerous right-wing figures, notably including the FBI鈥檚 top two officials, before Trump hired them.

The backlash was swift and brutal from his 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥 movement.

Adherents have long held as an article of faith that 鈥淒eep State鈥 elites were protecting Epstein鈥檚 most powerful associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood.

鈥淣ext the DOJ will say 鈥楢ctually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,鈥欌 furious pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tweeted. 鈥淭his is over the top sickening.鈥

Trump has managed to avoid much of the direct blame over the fiasco, with ire instead being directed at FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino.

But the lion鈥檚 share of the fury has been reserved for Attorney-General Pam Bondi, who assured Fox 九一星空无限 she had the Epstein client list on her desk and would get to the truth - in remarks endorsed by the White House.

Bondi was already on thin ice with Maga after distributing binders labelled 鈥淭he Epstein Files鈥 to influencers at the White House that turned out to contain largely already public information and no new revelations.

鈥淧resident Trump should fire [Bondi] for lying to his base and creating a liability for his Administration,鈥 far-right influencer Laura Loomer posted on X.

鈥淪he is an embarrassment and she doesn鈥檛 do anything to help Trump.鈥

Trump riled

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was pressed about the controversy and said that Bondi was actually talking about Epstein-related paperwork as a whole - sparking even more Maga fury.

鈥淭his is what happens when the dog catches the car. Or, to put a finer point on it, when you and the people around you become the very 鈥楧eep State鈥 you have spent years attacking,鈥 CNN analyst Chris Cillizza wrote on his Substack newsletter.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking.

Trump - who has denied visiting the US Virgin Islands home where prosecutors say Epstein sex-trafficked underage girls - said ahead of his election he would have 鈥渘o problem鈥 releasing files related to the case.

The President appeared exasperated when he was asked by a reporter about Epstein at a Cabinet meeting yesterday.

鈥淎re you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?... Are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable,鈥 Trump said.

It is one of a number of schisms that have opened in the Maga movement in recent days, with supporters angry over Trump鈥檚 announcement that weapons supplies to Ukraine would resume.

Trump鈥檚 fiercely isolationist base was already upset at the President鈥檚 bombing of Iran鈥檚 nuclear sites and his statements calling for an easing of immigration raids on farms.

Beyond its insights into the power dynamics that animate Trump鈥檚 supporters, the affair has raised concerns that Maga disillusionment will damage Republican prospects in the next election cycle.

The row comes with Trump under pressure from the launch of a new political party by his estranged former close aide Elon Musk, who had a bitter public split with the President over federal spending.

When the Trump-Musk feud blew up last month, Musk alleged that Trump was named in the Epstein files.

鈥淗ow can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won鈥檛 release the Epstein files?鈥 Musk asked on his social media platform X, after Trump鈥檚 Cabinet meeting.

-Agence France-Presse

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