The Justice Department’s piecemeal release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files is dividing President Donald Trump’s supporters, who are split on the potential consequences that the files’ contents may pose for Trump and the MAGA movement going forward.
The latest tranche released on Tuesday, consisting of nearly 30,000 documents, has led to mixed reactions on the talk shows of prominent far-right podcasters and figureheads.
Some establishment Trump loyalists said they weren’t fazed — and won’t be until they see some smoking-gun evidence that Trump engaged in criminal activity involving minors.
“Every time they release another 30,000 things, there’s one picture of Trump … in a suit and tie in a ballroom at a party,” said New York radio host Mark Simone, filling in for Sean Hannity on his podcast on Christmas Eve. “You’re not going to get Trump on this. He has nothing to do with Epstein.”
Far-right podcaster Alex Jones, who built his entire brand on conspiratorial rhetoric, elaborated on his own sprawling theories surrounding Epstein, including the baseless claim that the late convict “ran this giant multinational secret air force for the CIA.” On his show Tuesday, Jones scoffed at the idea that the Epstein files implicate Trump in criminal sexual activity, but did embrace the suspicion that the heavily redacted and incomplete release of the files indicate the Trump administration is hiding something. Trump, Jones claimed, “did go along with the CIA to cover this up.”
The Trump administration has denied redacting the Epstein files to protect the president.
Suspicions of a Trump administration cover-up have sent some sectors of MAGA world into a tailspin. A younger, more reactionary contingent of far-right influencers have been singularly obsessed with the public release of the Epstein files since Trump promised to release them amid his re-election campaign last year. And they have not been impressed by what has emerged from the DOJ since Dec. 19.
“I feel like Trump’s vengeance is no longer going to be against the Deep State, I feel like it’s against us now,” said former InfoWars co-host Owen Shroyer, on right-wing podcast “The Debrief” on Tuesday.
Shroyer, who’s criticized Trump in the past, suggested the administration’s handling of the Epstein files will lead to cascading, deleterious consequences for the GOP and the MAGA movement over the next few election cycles.
“I just don’t think anybody from this administration is going to be electable at this point,” he said. “It’d take a miracle after this Christmas disaster of the Epstein files.”
Andy Campbell is a Senior Enterprise Editor for MS NOW Digital. He is also the author of "We Are Proud Boys: How a right-wing street gang ushered in a new era of American extremism."