Trump faces 'reckoning' as MAGA faces 'simple' choice: analysis

President Donald Trump continues to insist that the Republican Party needs to move on from Jeffrey Epstein, even accusing MAGA Republicans who are still focusing heavily on the Epstein investigation of being "duped by Democrats." But many people in the MAGA movement are refusing to move on, and MAGA is experiencing a great deal of infighting over Epstein.

In an op-ed published by The State on July 24, journalist Isaac Bailey emphasizes that the Epstein controversy "may be Donald Trump's political reckoning" and is "a moral reckoning for his most ardent supporters."

"For the first time since Trump made his way down that golden escalator at his hotel to announce his candidacy for president in 2015," Bailey argues, "Trump supporters can't hide. They can't deflect, can't blame the 'lamestream media' or Trump's political enemies, no matter how hard they try. They can't handwave what's happening by comparing Trump to the worst behavior of men and women they don't like. They must choose loyalty to Trump — or to their own conscience. It's as simple as that."

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Bailey recalls that during Joe Biden's presidency, Trump and other MAGA Republicans were obsessed with an investigation that Trump doesn't want to talk about anymore.

"When Trump and his allies gleefully helped spread the Epstein story," Bailey explains, "they didn't understand its power. They may have believed it was just more political red meat. But some of Trump's core voters believed powerful men were getting away with raping young girls. They believed the hated Biden Administration was covering up those crimes, and that Trump would expose it all once they gave him the power of the presidency. Now, they know Trump has the power to shed more light on what happened, or is still happening, to protect the powerful after Epstein's death."

Bailey continues, "If Trump wanted most of the Epstein files to be released, they would have been released. Trump's supporters know he has had no problem breaching traditional political protocol when he wants, meaning he could order the Epstein files released today."

The journalist describes Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal in response to an Epstein-related article as "yet another attempt to gaslight."

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"The problem for Trump is that at this point, the only thing that will satisfy his most concerned supporters is the confirmation of an Epstein client list…. and a mass arrest," Bailey writes. "Anything short of that will feel like gaslighting to the people who are following this closely."

READ MORE: What Trump does not want revealed now — or anytime in the future

Isaac Bailey's full op-ed for The State is available at this link (subscription required).