Why is Epstein the scandal that has stuck, and why now?

Politics & Elections
1

Trump has done and said a thousand things that were so horrific that any other political figure in our lifetimes would’ve ended their career had they done any of them. He does things that are so stupid, and so evil, with such regularity that the news just lets them fly by, only covering the latest horrific scandal for a few hours or perhaps a few days before the next one comes along. And of course his cult doesn’t care about any of it. Water off a duck’s back.

So I’ve been thinking. Why is it that the current Epstein scandal actually seems to be sticking and hurting Trump? Is MAGA actually upset because Trump raped children?

Or is MAGA upset because there’s not going to be some sort of reckoning where he goes after democrats for raping children?

Remember that QANON and a lot of what Alex Jones says is all about a huge amount of child rapists and child sex trafficking for the rich and powerful. And while that sounds absurd, apparently it’s actually really not. There does seem to be a significant amount of child sex trafficking out there for the rich and powerful. But I try not to read too much QANON but what I’ve read here and there, the theme of a lot of it is that Trump has been working in the background to gather up evidence so that one day he can bring all of these secret pedos to justice, and conveniently, all those pedos are only people that the qanon folk hate, high profile democrats mostly. They’ve been talking for years about this. They’ve been promising the day of reckoning for a decade now. Any day now. It’s one of their core beliefs about Trump.

So, then, of course we’ve known Trump is a sexual predator all along. Rape judgements in civil trial, “grab them by the pussy”, lots of testimony from people he has raped in the past, admitting that he would barge into his Miss Teen USA pageants to catch underage girls naked, etc. And we’ve known Trump and Epstein were best buds a long time now. So none of this is news. There’s nothing that has become known in recent months that would shock MAGA or that we really didn’t know. So then why is this story suddenly gaining traction?

The reason, I think, is not because MAGA suddenly cares that Trump rapes children. They’ve always been okay with that. I think the reason this is causing such a stir is because when Trump said there were no Epstein files, he took away their fantasy that he’s been battling the child rapists all along, and that there was going to be this day of reckoning where they’re all exposed and Trump brings everyone (democrats, maybe hated celebrities) to justice, and now clearly that’s not going to happen.

I can’t claim to know the motivations of every single person who believe that Trump is secretly some sort of good guy, but I do wonder if they actually believed that Trump would be bringing child rapists to justice, or if they were just fantasizing about how they were going to be able to punish their enemies (democrats). Do they actually think Trump is clean, and hasn’t raped kids, and only hung around people who sex trafficked children for decades because he’s bringing this whole plan to fruition to bring it all to justice, or do they know Trump rapes kids and they’re fine with it as long as they get to punish dozens of democrats for doing the same thing?

In any case, what’s making this scandal stick that didn’t make it stick 10+ years ago when we knew all about Trump and Epstein? Or when Epstein super suspiciously maybe killed himself? What’s making this stick when we already knew that Trump was a sexual predator? Is my explanation correct, that they were angry about being thwarted in their fantasies about the big democratic pedophile reveal? Or something else?

2

So far nothing has stuck concerning Trump and Epstein.

3

As I understand it, they always did care about the “Epstein list”, and had the idea that Biden being an Evil Democrat was suppressing it to protect the Evil Pedophile Deep State, and that Trump would promptly publish the list and prove the Democrats are all pedophiles. And of course that didn’t happen. They likely wouldn’t care that Trump raped children or actively approve of it, but they do care about the violation of the narrative.

Most of Trump’s evils fail to have any effect on the Right because the Right either doesn’t care or actively approve of them. They care this time not because it’s any worse, but because it’s part of a popular conspiracy theory of theirs that they were sure was going to get valaidated.

4

Yeah, it’s created a lot of ongoing media churn, and the salaciousness of it (and the blowback on Republicans) has kept it frothing on the surface but clearly the plan is to ‘delay, deny, defend’ until some other outrage takes over the news cycle. Pam Bondi is never going to release anything that implicates Trump or allow him to be held to account, so as much as people want this to be ‘the moment’ that everything changes, it isn’t.

Stranger

5

This is the answer. Nothing has stuck. It’s a media-created storm that will have no impact on anything.

Trump will ignore it, or manufacture something that flips it around on Democrats. GOP will lose zero voters over this.

6

Democracy is dead; voters don’t matter anymore one way or another. That doesn’t mean that the scandal won’t stick or won’t affect his popularity with his base. It just means that there won’t be any consequences for him beyond the humiliation. But neither it nor anything else will get him out of power.

7

I still maintain the largest factor at play here is Trump’s deteriorating mental state. Despite everything that’s happening i still have trouble believing there is anything truly incriminating in DoJ possession (though his reaction is making me less sure of that)

IMO this is Trump’s deteriorating brain (knowing what he did actually with Esptein) not grasping that there isn’t much in the files beyond what is actually known about Trump and Esptein (which is far from nothing). He is freaking out and making things much worse (uniquely among his maga base). IMO this is a sign of how much his brain is gone, he’s always had a good take on what the maga faithful want to hear from him and telling them that. This stands out as him not doing that

8

I think the answer to the OP’s question is that a larger number of republican voters are wanting to get to the truth even if it means that it could have bad consequences for them. I believe that both parties will suffer if the truth ever comes out. Democrats have more of a " by any means necessary" philosophy and they are more willing to let things stay in the shadows if they think it will hurt their cause.

9

I agree that nothing has stuck.

As for your prediction about the future, I am less sure.

The context is that Trump is so far winning the trade war. Partners are accepting that the U.S. will, in violation of trade agreements, charge higher tariffs on their exports to the U.S. while U.S. products enter foreign nations virtually tariff free. That’s a win. Now, winning a trade war is high risk. But the harm I expected to see, to the U.S. economy, is so far minimal.

If and when Trump’s economic policies cause a U.S. recession and/or big dollar inflation spurt, swing voter Americans will start blaming him for everything bad in the news, including Epstein. But so long as the economy is good enough, nothing will stick. If evidence comes out implicating top level Republicans, and only third level Democrats, and the S&P 500 is at record highs, cynical centrists will say that they all do it. If inflation is double-digit and toy shelves are empty, Trump having been Epstein’s buddy will be perceived as much worse.

So far, Trump’s luck is holding.

10

It’s wishful thinking that Epstein has stuck. The one slight change I see is that some of his bro base are a little wobbly on him. Joe Rogan and South Park, for example, these bro “thought leaders” are criticizing him and maybe it will stick with some bros.

11

The core of MAGA is TV and entertainment addicts. It’s people that love WWE, reality TV, soap operas, and tabloid news. And those businesses make so much money off Trump and people that like Trump that they work desperately to protect and promote him.

But… Epstein is like the ultimate trash, scandal story. It’s like the most perfectly mixed and aged chum for sharks.

Trump was fun and all, but just imagine if was just the road to the greatest payoff ever? What if Trump and Epstein were… involved?

12

There are a few factors here, some alluded to already:

  1. Americans want an anti-establishment fighter, and Trump – somehow, bizarrely – has managed to sell himself as that figure to many millions of Americans. And this is the ultimate establishment scandal, so Trump now trying to deflect, brings the cognitive dissonance right to the fore.

  2. It’s bad content. All this build-up to say “Nothing to see here, folks” is incredibly disappointing, particularly for those into conspiracies.
    The thing to do with this kind of scandal, and this audience, would have been to promise something more salacious down the road. Or claim an even bigger conspiracy that is somehow blocking the release of the files.
    You can only kick this stuff into the long grass (or grassy knoll), you can’t ever end it.

ETA: I think there likely *is* a real conspiracy here. It’s insane that no-one but Epstein and Maxwell have been convicted. But I’m just describing this in terms of how it’s landing with Trump’s audience because those of us outside MAGA already know Trump as a criminal and a conman anyway.

  1. Compared to other stuff that Trump has managed to shrug off, this is too easy a talking point. I’m on several conservative forums right now, and when I simply ask “Do you think the Epstein files should be released” or “Why aren’t the Epstein files being released?” even the most strident Trump supporters are clamming up. With other scandals, they had various handwaves, but this one is harder because it’s so simple.
13

Which is stronger, their love of trump, or their hatred of pedophilia?

14

I know some MAGAs and what they are saying is “This is the biggest thing yet the demos have thrown at us, so if we can get through this they can’t stop us!”
How many times do I have to say that, for the Republicans, “It isn’t a case of right versus wrong. It is a case of winning versus losing.” before it finally sinks in. When you accuse them of hypocrisy, lying, violence etc. all you are accusing them is doing what it takes to “win” in their eyes. By the way, this should answer @Son_of_a_Rich s question.

15

Republicans have shown that they are more likely than Democrats to root out and admit to their flaws and indiscretions when it will hurt their ability to retain power?

16

No. The Republicans have shown that saying “They do it to!!!” over and over again without benefit of any evidence is an effective tool, because we respond by asking for evidence, and they respond by grinning and doing it again.

17

Not the top politicians in power but the voters and many in congress and the senate find getting to the truth takes priority over the consequences. The democrats are much more lockstep and republicans are starting to lean that same way.

18

Don’t take the bait.

19

Hahahahahahaha…<inhale>hahahahahaha.

20

That’s true. To retain power, Republicans have rooted out their flaws like honesty, fairness, and empathy.