President Donald Trump's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case has resulted in a vast multitude of far-right media figures turning on the person they helped elect, according to a new analysis.
In a Thursday article in anti-Trump conservative outlet The Bulwark, author Will Sommer detailed how some of the biggest names in the MAGA media sphere have deemed Trump a heretic over the administration's insistence that the Epstein matter is closed and that the rumored "client list" purportedly including contact information for Epstein's criminal associates never existed. He listed multiple examples suggesting that Trump's biggest online advocates may not forgive him over the Epstein issue.
MAGA podcaster Tim Pool accused Trump of "trying to nuke his base." Anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines – who tied for fifth place against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in a 2022 competition — wondered "why on earth is [Trump] doing this?" Another Pro-Trump influencer Matt Walsh, who describes himself on X as a "theocratic fascist," also piled on.
READ MORE: 'Who in the world would be stupid enough to believe that?' Morning Joe torches Trump
"There is just no way for an honest person to look at this set of facts and come away with the conclusion that the administration is in the right on this issue," Walsh told his 3.7 million X followers.
According to Sommer, Trump has spent the last decade "playing pretend with his base" by teasing various policies and conspiracies. The Bulwark writer argued that Trump's tactics have now caught up with him, and that his response has only made the rift between himself and his base even wider.
"In the first term, they pretended Mexico would build the wall, and that Trump could bring all the manufacturing jobs back. Now they’re pretending that mass deportations will make everything from food to housing affordable, and even eliminate traffic jams," he wrote. "Then, with the Epstein memo, Trump abruptly stopped pretending. Instead, he offered a reaction akin to Whoa, you people are a bunch of dumb freaks, I don’t want to play this game anymore! And his fans—and, by extension, the people in right-wing media who built their careers playing this game—are mad about it."
Sommer also observed that Trump's circumstances are only likely to get "weirder" as the Epstein controversy drags on. He noted that right-wing journalist Jessica Reed Kraus is now pushing for Ghislaine Maxwell – who procured young girls for Epstein to prey on — to be pardoned due to her being a "scapegoat" for Epstein and the powerful men he associated with. Kraus lamented in an Instagram story that Trump was "only making this disaster worse by the day" in his responses.
READ MORE: 'Didn't you vote to pass this?' GOP rep stumps CNN host after blasting bill he voted for
Click here to read Sommer's full article (subscription required).