‘MAGA Is Dead’: Trump’s Denial of the Epstein Files Is the Final Death Blow of His Movement

In one post to his Truth Social account, Trump blew up whatever trust he had left in his base.

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Just a year ago, no one would have believed that the impenetrable wall of support that insulated Donald Trump within his cult would have crumbled in just a matter of days. But that’s exactly what’s happening before our eyes, and Trump has made things exponentially worse with a post he made to his Truth Social platform in an attempt to quell the outrage.

If you’ve been following our reporting on this developing story over the last few days, you should have a good understanding of how we got to this point — AG Pam Bondi pissed a lot of MAGA heads off with her conflicting statements about the existence of the “Epstein list”; FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino pissed a lot of MAGA heads off by confirming that Jeffrey Epstein did indeed kill himself; Bongino threatened to resign after a heated clash with Bondi over her handling of the case; Trump compounds the anger during a Cabinet meeting and scolds a reporter for asking about the Epstein case; and now, Trump has made things worse with a post to his Truth Social platform this Saturday.

We’ll reprint his post below so you can read it for yourself:

What’s going on with my “boys” and, in some cases, “gals?” They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and “selfish people” are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration, who conned the World with the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, 51 “Intelligence” Agents, “THE LAPTOP FROM HELL,” and more? They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called “friends” are playing right into their hands. Why didn’t these Radical Left Lunatics release the Epstein Files? If there was ANYTHING in there that could have hurt the MAGA Movement, why didn’t they use it? They haven’t even given up on the John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr. Files. No matter how much success we have had, securing the Border, deporting Criminals, fixing the Economy, Energy Dominance, a Safer World where Iran will not have Nuclear Weapons, it’s never enough for some people. We are about to achieve more in 6 months than any other Administration has achieved in over 100 years, and we have so much more to do. We are saving our Country and, MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, which will continue to be our complete PRIORITY. The Left is imploding! Kash Patel, and the FBI, must be focused on investigating Voter Fraud, Political Corruption, ActBlue, The Rigged and Stolen Election of 2020, and arresting Thugs and Criminals, instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old, Radical Left inspired Documents on Jeffrey Epstein. LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT! The 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, and they tried to do the same thing in 2024 — That’s what she is looking into as AG, and much more. One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

If you weren’t able to make it through that rambling screed, Trump is essentially defending Bondi from the firestorm of criticism she’s receiving from his base and is putting his full confidence in her.

According to some observers, Trump’s post marks the first time he’s ever been “ratioed” on his own platform — meaning that it’s gotten exponentially more replies than reposts, and here’s why:

After almost a decade of Epstein conspiracy theories swirling among Trump’s base and giving them hope that his presidency would bring justice to Epstein’s victims and expose the elites and politicians who were allegedly his clients, Trump, in a single post, is now saying the entire Epstein lore was a fiction created by “Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration.”

Nothing could be more devastating to his base. It’s a downright betrayal.

In a Saturday episode, MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson honed in on Trump’s claim that the Epstein files were created by his political enemies.

“By admitting that the Epstein Files are real, and that you've read them, and you don't like their contents, and they were written by your enemies, it doesn't make the most compelling case as far as I'm concerned,” Johnson said.

One of Trump’s biggest supporters was white nationalist and antisemite Nick Fuentes, who didn’t take the news of the Truth Social post very well.

“So now Trump is claiming the Epstein files are a Democrat hoax? Lol. MAGA is dead. Good riddance,” Fuentes wrote in a post to X.

During the Student Action Summit being held this weekend in Tampa, Florida (an event organized by the conservative, pro-Trump organization Turning Point USA), the anger was palpable. One attendee bristled at Trump’s defense of Bondi.

“It’s not even about Pam Bondi to me. It’s like, look, Trump, we elected you because you were supposed to be different,” said attendee Sharon Allen. “So you have to prove to us you’re different. … You can fire her [Bondi], do whatever, but at the end of the day, Trump, you are president. We trusted you to get rid of these people and expose these people.”

One of Trump’s biggest supporters was former Florida GOP state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, who said that Trump’s Truth Social post “out of touch.”

“Trump is losing his touch,” Sabatini said. “Bad personnel are undermining him left and right. We need a full reset.”

Even diehard Trump supporter and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer (who some say advises Trump regularly) expressed her disappointment with with the president.

“President Trump says he thinks Blondi is 'doing a Fantastic job' as AG in a post he posted on Truth Social today…." Loomer posted to X on Saturday, accompanied by screenshots of his Truth Social post praising Bondi.

“People make their own choices and decisions, but mark my word, the lack of actual results at the DOJ and lack of transparency that translates into incompetence will cost the GOP House and Senate seats. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she added.

Another longtime Trump supporter and MAGA media personality, Robby Starbuck, slammed what he sees as an emerging wall of secrecy in the Trump administration.

“People want truth, they want the rapists exposed and brought to justice, they want to break the deep state, they want the 100 year storm of lies from government to end and they want to end the two tiered system of justice. People want peace, safety, justice and sanity,” Starbuck wrote in a post on Saturday.

“They want their country back. This case became a symbol for all of that. Fair or unfair, that’s the truth. President Trump rarely loses touch with what’s happening among the base but he’s missing the pulse on this one. Saying so doesn’t mean disloyalty or hatred, it means that this matters so much that we must remind him why it matters so much. We want President Trump to succeed on EVERYTHING he ran on. To do so requires disclosure and transparency on every issue. We need to end the age of secrets,” he continued.

Right-wing influencer, anti-trans activist and longtime Trump supporter Matt Walsh also chimed in.

“Up until 10 seconds ago there was unanimous agreement that Epstein was a pedophile and child sex trafficker with high profile clientele who all must be exposed and brought to justice,” he wrote in a post to X. “Now, out of the blue, we're being told that none of that is true and anyone who believes this thing that everyone believed is a whack job and a conspiracy theorist. This is the kind of shameless 180 degree unexplained pivot that leftists typically specialize in. Very weird to see it happening on the Right.”

Another big MAGA account on X, Chief Nerd, pointed out that “Trump is getting roasted in the comments on his Epstein post on Truth Social, which is VERY unusual.”

“This is not going away,” Chief Nerd added, who then shared a screen-record of all the negative comments blowing up Trump’s post in the replies:

Fox News also couldn’t resist pointing out the major unforced error Trump put himself in:

Officials in Trump's orbit, including those who ultimately rose to high-level positions within the administration, had vowed to uncover alleged details and corruption that had not yet been made public or confirmed both before and after the high-stakes 2024 election.

And of course, Elon Musk had to chime in as well. While Trump and Musk had their fallout well before the Epstein issue blew up in Trump’s face, the Tesla CEO has been dogging Trump about Epstein ever since.

Musk responded to a post where someone shared a screenshot of the Trump’s entire Truth Social screed. The post’s caption read, “this is in the running for worst post ever made.”

Musk agreed.

“Seriously. He said ‘Epstein’ half a dozen times while telling everyone to stop talking about Epstein. Just release the files as promised,” Musk wrote.

During a segment on CNN this Sunday, anchor Brian Stelter summed up the current situation pretty accurately:

“The questions about Epstein are not the narrow questions about what happened in the prison cell that night. That was addressed six years ago. What’s really bubbling up online and the reason why this is getting so much attention is because of a conspiracy theory that is so wide-ranging, about Democratic elites abusing children, about the government covering it up — that’s actually what MAGA influencers are talking about. That’s what they were being promised for years. … I think ultimately we’re talking about a promise that they’re not able to deliver on because it was always a lie.”

All across social media, there’s a wave of disappointment and anger emanating from Trump’s base. It’s hard to know where MAGA will go from here, but it’s safe to say that the cult that launched Trump to the White House is no more. Does Trump really care? Probably not. He’s already in the White House, and he’s already used up the energy from his cult for all its worth. Now, he doesn’t need them anymore.

Either way, let’s enjoy the spectacle while it lasts.