'Massive unforced error': Data analyst warns MAGA fan base 'very disappointed' in Trump

11 July

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures on the day he attends an event hosted by America250 in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

CNN data analyst Harry Enten says the American public’s interest in President Donald Trump’s dismissal of the Epstein files is revving up — however much Trump wants it gone.

“What a massive, unforced error by the Trump administration," said Enten, referring to Trump's failure to release documents purported by the administration to contain the notorious sex-trafficker's client list. "Donald Trump would love this story to go away. But, in fact, interest is climbing higher and higher, to quote Jackie Wilson. Look at this. Google searches for Epstein up 1,200 percent, this week versus last. And get this: It is currently the top topic search with Trump on Google, alongside his presidency.”

“Donald Trump normally leans into stories in which there's controversy, like tariffs, for example.” Enten added, “but this is a story in which he's trying to get away from, basically saying, ‘why is anyone still interested in this story?’ The bottom line is people are very interested in this story — to historic degrees — at least this week."

Enten pointed out that “Epstein” has been Googled 1.4 times as much as “tariffs” since Monday, which he called "huge news”, based on past searches. The word “Epstein” even managed to beat out searches for “Grok” this week — despite X owner Elon Musk scrubbing “inappropriate posts” made by his Grok chatbot, which included antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler.

“Grok, which is another insane news story this week," Enten explained. "I mean, my goodness gracious, ‘Epstein’ has been googled 2.5 times as much as the Grok story has been Googled. So, the bottom line is this is a story in which there's a lot of interest, and it's one of the few stories in which both [MAGA podcaster] Steve Bannon and Elon Musk are going after Trump.”

Enten said betting markets had reduced their expectation of Trump releasing more files to 20 percent, down from 43 percent in May.

“I think there are going to be a lot of the MAGA fan base who are going to be very disappointed,” said Enten, “And this is all a self-inflicted error by Trump and the Trump administration.”

The analyst agreed that administration officials had made the mistake of spending ages pushing conspiracy theories and promising bombshells, but then apparently delivered nothing when they reached office.

“It turns out what goes around sometimes comes around when you push conspiracy theories,” Enten said.

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