“The Epstein files are a tough issue for MAGA because Trump’s supporters are convinced government officials are covering up high-level shenanigans,” Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress voted almost unanimously on Tuesday to release the files on the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, amid cracks in the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement.
Donald Trump has been the de facto leader of the GOP for roughly a decade. However, the coalition is starting to fray, at a time when the president has been criticized for seeming to flip-flop on the release of the Epstein files.
Trump — once a friend of Epstein — vowed to release the files during his campaign, later pushed to keep them bottled up, and in recent days did a complete U-turn and supported their release.
U.S. media suggested that Trump’s 180-degree turnaround was prompted by the fact that a substantial number of Republican lawmakers were already planning to vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files.
MAGA supporters despise Epstein, as they believe he symbolizes a system whereby the rich and powerful are above the law. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges — his death was officially ruled as suicide.
“The Epstein files are a tough issue for MAGA because Trump’s supporters are convinced government officials are covering up high-level shenanigans,” Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
“But they don’t want to think Trump is involved even though he was friends with Epstein,” West said.
Rifts within the MAGA movement are beginning to surface. Trump has recently withdrawn support from conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, labeling her a “traitor” after she asked why he opposed the release of the Epstein files.
Greene, until recently an ardent Trump supporter, was regarded as one of the leading faces of the MAGA movement.
Clay Ramsay, a researcher with the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua: “When Trump campaigned in 2024, he said he would be willing to release the Epstein files if he won … Trump’s own voters voted for him, fully expecting he would release the files.”
“The Epstein issue is … about extremely wealthy men exploiting underage girls … At the level of Trump’s rank-and-file supporters, I suspect more want the files released than do not,” Ramsay said.
Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, told Xinhua: “This is an issue where there are a lot of true believers among the MAGA faithful — the people who were attracted to Trump back in 2015 when he was railing against a culture of elite impunity and corruption.”
“So to see Trump backtrack (on the Epstein files) may have shaken some of these folks’ belief in Trump,” Galdieri said.
Aside from the Epstein files, MAGA supporters have questioned why Trump has recently taken some actions that seem to diverge from his “America First” agenda.
Some MAGA supporters expressed concern when Washington bombed Tehran back in June, questioning whether this action was crucial to U.S. national security.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie co-authored a resolution with a Democrat, seeking to prevent Washington from “unauthorized hostilities” with Tehran.
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Massie said that there was “no imminent threat to the United States” to justify the U.S. strikes on Iran.
This comes after Trump’s campaign promises last year of avoiding wars that are not directly in the interest of defending the United States.
Greene — once an ardent Trump supporter — was among those who questioned Trump’s use of force in Iran, asking how that fit with Trump’s vows to end wars.
Greene has also been critical of last month’s 20 billion U.S. dollar currency swap with Argentina and the decision to ramp up beef imports from the South American country.
In an interview with podcast host Tucker Carlson last month, Greene said Trump’s move was “one of the grossest things” she’s ever witnessed and added that she “doesn’t understand how that is America First.”
“It’s honestly a punch in the gut to all of our American cattle ranchers, and they are furious and rightfully so,” Greene said.■
World Insights: Rifts widen in MAGA movement as U.S. Congress votes to release Epstein files
