Trump Rips His “Stupid” Supporters Who Still Care About Epstein Files
The president would apparently rather disparage his base than release the case files pertaining to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking with reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump said that he had “lost a lot of faith” in his supporters, calling the controversy surrounding Epstein a “hoax” and accusing some conservatives of being “duped” by Democrats.
“You mentioned ‘past’ supporters when you were talking about the Epstein issue. Does that mean you are effectively disowning any supporters?” asked one reporter, referring to a lengthy rant Trump posted on Truth Social earlier in the day.
“Well, I lost a lot of faith in certain people, yeah,” Trump said. “Because they got duped by the Democrats. The Democrats are good for nothing. They almost destroyed our country.”
Reporter: You mentioned ”past” supporters when talking about Epstein. Does that mean you are disowning any supporters?
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 16, 2025
Trump: I lost a lot of faith in certain people because they got duped by the Democrats. pic.twitter.com/AhEOK2U1sP
But that wasn’t the only insult Trump threw around.
“It is a hoax started by Democrats, it’s been run by Democrats for four years. You had Christopher Wray and Comey before him. It’s a bad group,” Trump said, likening his administration’s home-brewed fiasco to the Trump-Russia dossier. “Some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net. And so they try to do the Democrats’ work.”
That last comment actually also applies to several MAGA politicos in leadership positions, including Vice President JD Vance and Trump himself, who jointly campaigned on repeat promises to release the Epstein files.
Much to Trump’s chagrin, the botched rollout of the Epstein files has continued to plague his administration. A Morning Consult poll conducted earlier this month found that Trump’s popularity had tanked by six points since the Justice Department contradicted Attorney General Pam Bondi on the existence of Epstein’s so-called “client list.”
The fallout has been so substantial that the president directed Fox News and some commentators such as Charlie Kirk to stop discussing the topic altogether, though that hasn’t played well with some of the mouthier personalities on the far-right.
“Yelling at me to stop talking about a subject is the number one way to make sure that I keep talking about the subject,” Matt Walsh posted on X Wednesday.
And last month, Elon Musk accused Trump of being mentioned by name in the Epstein files, claiming that Trump’s alleged attachment to the disgraced financier was the real reason why the details of the case had not yet been made public.
But Republicans have unquestioningly fallen in line behind their leader: on Tuesday, the party blocked a Democrat-led effort to release the Epstein files. The final vote was 211 to 210—just one dissenting Republican would have tipped the scales.
QAnon believers—who turned out at the polls in November to re-elect Trump—have believed for years that the 79-year-old billionaire politician would rid the world of Satan-worshiping, liberal-minded pedophiles who run the government and media. But Trump’s sudden refusal to offer up what he has promised his conspiratorial followers has cast his messiah-like status with the group into doubt.
A reminder that prior to his death, Epstein described himself as one of Trump’s “closest friends.” The socialites were named and photographed together, and Trump reportedly slept with his now-wife Melania for the first time aboard Epstein’s plane, nicknamed the “Lolita Express.”
But Trump also has a terrible track record with how he treats women outside of Epstein’s world: the current president was found liable by a jury for sexually abusing Elle columnist E. Jean Carrol last year, was convicted as a felon for crimes relating to his affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, and famously boasted on a hot mic before his ascent to America’s political vanguard that he grabs women “by the pussy.”