A major rift has formed within Donald Trump’s MAGA base over his reversal of a campaign promise to release the “Epstein files” to the public. Many supporters see his denials of the existence of a “client list” belonging to Jeffrey Epstein, the powerful and well-connected investor who was charged with the sexual trafficking and assault of numerous teenage girls and young women before his death, as a betrayal of Trump’s promises to “drain the swamp” and expose what many supporters believe is proof of criminal corruption among primarily Democratic “elites.” Trump’s insistence that his supporters drop their fixation on Epstein-related “conspiracy theories that his people have long nurtured” is “making it exceedingly difficult for some of his biggest supporters and boosters to not start at least suspecting that he has something to hide,” says Rolling Stone's Asawin Suebsaeng, who has been reporting on the fallout from Trump and his Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein case.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.