With ‘Epstein list,' Trump is hoist by his own conspiracy-theory petard
So it should come as no surprise that President Trump and his administration now find themselves in the awkward position of having to play the grown-ups and talk their own base down from the ledge. Judging by his sour tone, it's a role that Trump loathes.
At a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, a reporter asked Attorney General Pam Bondi about the Justice Department's claim that Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide and, inconveniently, left no 'client list.' Trump, clearly annoyed, cut in: 'Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years. You're asking — we have [deadly flooding in] Texas. We have this. We have all of the things. And are people still talking about this guy, this creep?'
Ah, yes. The man who built an entire political career out of winking at every fever dream about elites drinking baby blood now wants us to stop asking all those pesky questions so he can focus on serious matters.
You don't have to be a genius to savor the irony, nor a sadist to enjoy the spectacle of MAGA-world being hoist by its own petard over the mythical 'Epstein list.'
From the beginning, Trump's rise was powered by weaponized paranoia. His entry ticket into presidential politics was the racist birther lie about former President Barack Obama. Later, he gladly rode the wave of QAnon — a movement obsessed with Satanic pedophile rings and sex-trafficking cabals — and happily soaked up the support of every tinfoil-hatter who would have him.
Naturally, these same people became convinced that the release of Epstein's 'list' would finally unmask the sinister elite cabal that has secretly ruled the planet since the dawn of time — with the added benefit of humiliating Trump's enemies.
The fantasy went something like this: The Deep State was hiding the truth, but Trump (their glorious truth-teller) would win in 2024, root the traitors out of big government and jail the globalist cosmopolitan elites preying on our children.
Instead? We got Bondi — who once boasted she had the files 'sitting on my desk right now' — suffering a sudden case of amnesia.
Which raises some questions. Which Bondi was lying? Fox News Bondi, who claimed to have the goods? Or Cabinet room Bondi, who claims she's never seen such a list?
Then there's Elon Musk — the richest man on earth and erstwhile Trump superfan — who not long ago tweeted angrily that Trump was on Epstein's client list, only to delete the post later.
Was Musk lying? Is Trump really on the list? These questions aren't difficult to ask, although they are apparently difficult for Trump's supporters to answer. Either Bondi and Musk are outrageous liars (and should be fired or shamed out of polite society), or Trump is actually guilty of heinous crimes.
It's not a logical leap to put these things together, so why do the MAGA faithful — who can somehow find hidden codes in the words 'cheese pizza' — now seem incapable of seeing the obvious contradictions?
At some point, Democrats may need to get better at helping people connect the dots. Not that serious Democratic leaders should go full Q, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few shameless surrogates 'just asking questions' — like so many of Trump's MAGA influencers.
After all, there are plenty of pictures of Trump and Epstein together looking chummy, and Trump himself once called Epstein a 'terrific guy' who 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.'
How hard could this be?
Then again, most of the Americans open to conspiracy theories have sorted into the Republican Party, and there's not much hope of turning them against Dear Leader. Indeed, many of the same Republicans who screamed about Epstein when they thought the matter would take down former President Bill Clinton have now gone curiously silent.
To be fair, a few conspiracy diehards — Alex Jones among them — have grumbled that Trump is hiding the truth. But most have simply invented elaborate rationalizations claiming that Trump is somehow both personally innocent and covering for others.
In a sane world, such a cover-up would be outrageous, explosive and disqualifying.
But we're not in a sane world. We're in a world where the same people who recently claimed Trump was about to start World War III when he bombed Iran are still making excuses for him.
Whether Trump's name is on 'the list' — which likely doesn't even exist — is beside the point. What has been established, and what the Trump White House desperately wants you to ignore, is that once again the powerful are lying to you. Again. As always.
Matt K. Lewis is a columnist, podcaster and author of the books 'Too Dumb to Fail' and 'Filthy Rich Politicians.'
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