Donald Trump and maga Republicans experiencing "what goes around comes around" in the evil Epstein-Maxwell debacle

Echo opinion editorial by Texas Rep. Micah Erfan published in the Houston Chronicle:  

For a decade, Donald Trump cultivated a political movement built on distrust of government institutions. 

Now, that same movement has turned its fury on him over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, putting some Texas Republicans in a tough spot. Trump has only himself to blame.

Going back years, Trump and his closest allies have fed the conspiracy machine, from false claims about vaccines to doubting President Obama’s birth certificate. During the campaign, Trump went even further, signaling he'd likely release the so-called Epstein files — various government and court documents related to the supposed empire of underage sex trafficking. Vice President J.D. Vance explicitly said they needed to do so.

The commitment only became stronger after Trump's election. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said that Trump “absolutely” should release the documents. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino—passionate advocates for release of the files—vowed complete transparency. Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed Epstein's client list was "sitting on my desk right now." To the many elements of the populist right, it seemed Epstein's large clientele of abusive elites would finally be exposed. Victims would get their justice. Epstein's true motives would be revealed.

Then came the reversal.

In July, 2025, the Justice Department issued a two-page unsigned memo declaring there was no "client list," no evidence of blackmail, and that Epstein definitively died by suicide. Case closed, nothing more to see.

Then everything began to fall apart. The MAGA base erupted in anger online over the betrayal. They had either been lied to by the administration about what they had on Epstein, or Trump was hiding something. Either outcome was unacceptable.

Tucker Carlson, speaking at a Turning Point USA summit, said the administration's response of "shut up, conspiracy theorist" was "too much" to bear. Right-wing influencers like Joe Rogan and Alex Jones raged about the betrayal, with many who had built their brands on exposing the "deep state" suddenly finding themselves at odds with the very administration they had sworn would defeat it. Even Houston’s self-proclaimed czar of talk radio Michael Berry warned that Trump risked losing the MAGA base over Epstein.

Trump's response❓ He lashed out at his own supporters, calling them weaklings. In a Truth Social tirade, he declared he no longer wanted their support. When pressed by reporters, he dismissed the entire controversy as the "Jeffrey Epstein Hoax" without explaining what exactly was hoaxed.

Now plenty of MAGA-aligned politicians find themselves caught between Trump and their own voters. Rep. Troy Nehls, a Houston-area Republican known for his gold Trump sneakers, stumbled last month when a reporter with Raw Story asked for his own take on Trump’s Epstein flip-flop.

“I don't think the boss is being an obstructionist,” Nehls said. “We've got to talk about the wins we have and not get distracted over Epstein.”

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who has been hugging the president tightly while fighting a primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, similarly lined up with Trump against the MAGA base. “It’s the president’s decision,” he told an NBC News reporter when asked about releasing the Epstein files.

This spectacular series of events reveals the fundamental challenge at the heart of Trumpism. You cannot simultaneously promise to demolish the deep state while asking your base to trust government conclusions. You cannot spend years validating conspiracy theories only to dismiss believers as fools when those theories become inconvenient.

Whether Trump's name actually appears in any Epstein documents — and it very well may — is almost beside the point now. His approach has been maximally incriminating. His flagrant denials and hostile attacks only fuel theories about what he's hiding. Trump’s long history with Epstein, including a bizarre birthday letter as reported by the Wall Street Journal and Trump's own claim that Epstein “stole” young women who worked for the spa at Mar-a-Lago, only makes things worse.

Some MAGA influencers are falling in line. Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk has explicitly said he’s “done talking about Epstein” and encouraged his audience to do the same. But to a certain extent the damage is already done. Trump has discovered what happens when you build a political movement on perpetual suspicion: eventually, that suspicion turns inward.

The (evil) Epstein controversy won't kill MAGA. In today's rapid news cycle, memories fade fast. But each betrayal leaves scars. 

Some podcasters have already declared this is their breaking point with Trump. Other influential figures who once gave him the benefit of the doubt, like U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, now watch with growing skepticism. For many Americans who catch wind of this story, it may be the only Trump news they hear for weeks, cementing an impression of broken promises and cover-ups.

Most damning of all, it exposes the hollow core of Trump's populist promise. Despite promises to his voters — and his supporters in Congress — Trump always puts himself first.

His (right wing extremist maga) base is learning what everyone else already knew: The swamp doesn't get drained when the biggest alligator takes charge. Trump spent years teaching his followers to see conspiracies and cover-ups everywhere. Now they're using those same tools to see through him. He created a monster of distrust and conspiracy thinking — and that monster has finally turned on its creator.

Micah Erfan represents Congressional District 7 on the Executive Committee of the Texas Democratic Party.

Aug 4, 2025  From Micah Erfan

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