Democrats troll Trump, GOP over Epstein scandal amid MAGA rift

Democrats are seizing on GOP divisions over the Epstein case, trolling Republicans and demanding transparency. Trump has dismissed the controversy, but MAGA loyalists and leaders like Speaker Mike Johnson call for full disclosure, deepening a rare rift in Trump’s base.

Phoenix: Democrats are latching on to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, demanding records be released and trolling Republicans on social media, news shows and in the US House as they revel in a rare fissure between President Donald Trump and his fiercely loyal base.

Conspiracy theories over Epstein’s death in prison and potential evidence in his sex trafficking case, including an alleged “client list”, have largely been a fixation for the right, one egged on by Trump himself.

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But Democrats sensed an opening after the Justice Department said last week that no additional evidence would be released, and some of Trump’s most influential allies refused to heed his pleas to move on.

They’re highlighting the dramatic about-face by some Republicans, which has divided the MAGA movement and could weaken a critical following for Trump. The more in-your-face approach also may help Democrats appease elements of the party’s own base, who are hungry for a more aggressive confrontation with the other side.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and likely 2028 presidential candidate, was among those who joined in on Tuesday. Khanna tried to put Vice President JD Vance — who has previously called for the Epstein files to be released — in the hot seat.

Khanna shared an X post from 2020 GOP presidential candidate and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who called for the Trump administration to “release the Epstein files and let the chips fall where they may”.

“A 2028 power move, @JDVance,” Khanna wrote to Vance on X. “Where do you stand on the Epstein files these days?” Vance and Haley are both possible 2028 Republican presidential candidates.

A split in MAGA

MAGA followers were incensed after the Justice Department and FBI abruptly walked back the notion that there’s an Epstein client list of elites who participated in the wealthy New York financier’s trafficking of underage girls. Some called the Republican president “out of touch”, and many have continued to demand transparency.

Trump has tried to downplay the Epstein case’s importance and close the book on the controversy. “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.

He also said there were credibility issues with the documents, suggesting, without citing evidence, that they were “made up” by former FBI Director James Comey and former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, both Democrats.

The controversy puts many elected Republicans in an uncomfortable position, caught between a president who demands loyalty and a sizable segment of their base convinced the files will expose a vast conspiracy covered up by elites.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday became the highest-ranking Republican to break with Trump on Epstein, telling conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that “we should put everything out there and let the people decide”.