Trump Turns On MAGA: Says Epstein Files Are A Democrat “Hoax”
President Trump ramped up attacks on his own supporters Wednesday over their continued focus on the Jeffrey Epstein case. He says they are playing in Democratic hands.
During an Oval Office media appearance on Wednesday, a reporter asked the president about his comments early Tuesday, in which he dismissed concerns about his administration’s lack of transparency in the Epstein investigation and called it a “hoax.” Trump denied that Attorney General Pam Bondi told him it was a hoax, but did not specify how he reached that conclusion.
He told reporters: "It's all been a big hoax… It's perpetrated by the Democrats, and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net."
Trump also took to social media Wednesday, blasting those upset with his administration’s handling of the case — calling them “PAST supporters” who’ve fallen for “‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.”
Trump’s comments came just a day after one of his most loyal allies in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson, called “for transparency” from the DOJ in the Epstein case.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Trump’s own Justice Department charged Epstein with sex crimes in 2019 — the same year the disgraced financier reportedly killed himself in a jail cell. For years, prominent MAGA voices like the current FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have repeatedly suggested there was a larger conspiracy at play and vowed to expose it. But on July 7, the FBI and DOJ released a memo dismissing all major conspiracy theories and effectively declared the case closed.
There has since been mounting backlash from the right. Some prominent MAGA voices, including Charlie Kirk and Laura Ingraham, had stepped back a bit from calls to release the Epstein files. Others, like Megyn Kelly, were not backing down. Trump poured fuel on the fire on Wednesday.
HOW DEEP WILL THE MAGA DIVIDE GET?
Trump continues to ride the high of passing his “Big, Beautiful” tax and spending legislation. Either the Jeffrey Epstein story will eventually blow over — or the DOJ will be forced to say more. In the meantime, many vocal influencers who have backed Trump since 2016 are now up in arms.
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer warned the Epstein case threatens to “consume his presidency.”
