President Donald Trump spurred criticism Thursday after lumping one of his own appointees among the alleged group of adversaries trying to pin the Jeffrey Epstein drama on him.
Right-wing commentator John F. Solomon hosted a phone interview with Trump where the president ran down a list of controversies, including accusations of Russian collusion with Trump’s campaign, Trump’s attempt to overthrow the 2020 election and allegations of Chinese interference in U.S. elections. Solomon then asked Trump which of those investigations he would like the FBI to focus on this year.
The question amounted to giving Trump a microphone and letting him ‘ramble’, according critics.
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“All the things you mentioned were fake, so I would imagine if they were run by [Trump-appointed FBI Director] Chris Wray, and they were run by [former FBI Director James] Comey — and even before that administration, they’ve been running these files and so much that we found were fake with me — especially you look at that [Michael] Steele dossier where they paid like $14 million," Trump said. "That’s more than James Patterson gets paid to do a No. 1 Bestseller, and the things turned out to be a total scam.”
“I love that they’re looking at all this stuff,” Trump added, before hastily inserting: “— if they are. I hope they are.”
Social media reacted with puzzlement.
“Now Trump says Epstein situation is fault of Chris Wray, whom he appointed in 2017,” said Politico Senior Legal Affairs Reporter Josh Gerstein on X.
“This is the stable genius @realDonaldTrump’s 67-dimensional gambit to get everyone to forget about the Epstein files!” commented U.S. attorney and activist George Conway, a frequent Trump critic.
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But perhaps more telling of the sea change against Trump regarding the Epstein case were comments from the MAGA and conservative wing of X.
“He’s built this cult of personality that’s been so extreme and gone on for so long he no longer feels the need to try,” said right-wing political commentator Richard Hanania. “He’s also losing his edge. The decline will only get worse at his age. [Former President Joe] Biden taught us that.”
“Ok why did Jeffrey Epstein kill himself? Seriously,” demanded one MAGA account, broadcasting the MAGA world’s mounting frustration at not getting answers to conspiracy theories that Epstein was murdered to protect powerful politicians.
In his rant, Trump went on to attack his loyal Republican and MAGA following.
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“It’s all the same scam,” Trump told ‘Just the News’. “[The FBI] can look at this Jeffrey Epstein hoax, because that’s all the same stuff, all put out by Democrats. And some naïve Republicans just fall right into line They just don’t have the sustainability … the Democrats they have bad policy and candidates, but they stick together.”