A growing number of President Donald Trump’s devoted followers are calling him “out of touch” and “misleading” after he encouraged people to move on from the Epstein Files.
For years, right-wing influencers have circulated theories online about the government’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his death in federal prison, perpetuating claims that a ring of high-profile, powerful individuals helped cover up the convicted pedophile’s actions and ensure he never stood trial.
But last week’s Justice Department and FBI memo shut down many of those theories, including the existence of a “client list,” and disappointed many Trump supporters who refused to believe the absence of bombshell revelations.
Tension between the president and parts of his base was palpable this weekend after Trump told people to “not waste Time and Energy of Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about” in a Truth Social post.
“Trump is very out of touch right now… Really sad to see,” Anthony Sabatini, a Florida state politician and Trump supporter, wrote on X. “RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!”
Liz Wheeler, a conservative political commentator, said: “Trump is massively misreading his base on this one. It could cost him the midterms.”
“No one is believing the Epstein coverup, @realDonaldTrump. This will be part of your legacy. There’s still time to change it!” Mike Cernovich, a right-wing influencer known as “Cernovich” on X, told Trump.
Wheeler, Cernovich, and other conservative influencers were invited to the White House earlier this year and granted exclusive access to the first document drop in the Epstein Files. However, it was quickly revealed that much of the information contained in the binders was already in the public domain.
But the group, and others in the rightwing media sphere, remained hopeful as one of Trump’s campaign promises had been to release all information related to the Epstein investigation.
When he took office, Trump tapped Kash Patel to serve as FBI director and Dan Bongino to serve as deputy FBI director. Patel and Bongino, former conservative activists and media personalities, had been among the loudest voices alleging a cover-up in the Epstein investigation before taking up their government posts.
Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi also accused the Southern District of New York of hiding information not previously known about Epstein, and insinuated that a “client list” was part of files on her desk to be reviewed. (Last week, she clarified she meant the files as a whole were on her desk, and that she was not referring to a client list specifically.)
The DOJ/FBI memo concluded that there was no client list, that Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, and that no further investigation into third parties was warranted.
The conclusions set off a firestorm of criticism on the right.
“It’s a shame that a lot of good people are getting attacked as a result of the order to protect the pedos in the Epstein Files. This isn’t going away,” wrote Rogan O’Handley, known as “DC Draino” on X.
Laura Loomer, a close ally of Trump, blamed Bondi for the Epstein Files fallout and called on the president to fire her.
“We were promised transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein files. Instead, we got Pam Blondi @PamBondi, a Fox News addict waving around a binder of heavily redacted and recycled documents like it's some sort of bombshell,” Loomer wrote on X.
Trump doubled down on his support for Bondi and Bongino over the weekend but that did little to quell some supporters’ anger.
“Trump’s persuasive power over his base, especially during his first term, was almost magical. Calling out obvious mistakes he made would get you an ass chewing. ‘Trust the plan!’ The reaction on Epstein should thus be startling to him. No one is buying it. No one is dropping it,” Cernovich added.
And at the Student Action Summit, hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA this past weekend, there seemed little interest in letting the matter drop, NBC News reported.
Conservative podcaster Brandon Tatum shared his own theory to the crowd of young conservatives, and added: “I don’t think they’re telling us the truth about Epstein.”
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