Trump is flunking his Epstein test
For years he insisted on a deep-state plot that only he could expose. Now he says there is nothing to show
CULT loyalty is blind until it isn’t. Donald Trump’s populist truth test now seems to be at hand. Whether or not the “Epstein files” exist is secondary. Trump and his leading henchmen stoked a frenzy about the cover-up of material relating to the late convicted sex abuser’s allegedly complicit circle of friends. Now they say that they have nothing to show. “We will bring justice to the paedophiles!” has been replaced by: “Move along, nothing to see.” On this occasion, however – and for the first time in a serious way – the Maga (Make America Great Again) cult is not obeying orders.
Indeed, it looks even worse than that for Trump. For years he insisted there was a deep-state plot that only he could expose. Many of his leading backers, notably Kash Patel, who now heads the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the attorney-general, Pam Bondi, presented the Epstein files as a defining example of establishment depravity. Now they say it was fake news.
But Trump is messing up their U-turn. Last weekend, he claimed that the Epstein files did exist after all but had been concocted by presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden – as well as former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and other familiar suspects.
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
