President Donald Trump ― a figure so immune to controversy, he’s earned the nickname “Teflon Don” ― may have finally met the one news story he can’t bluster his way out of.
No matter how hard he tries to either ignore it or change the subject, the president’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein won’t stop following him — and even part of his conservative base is having trouble grappling with it.
According to a Fox News survey released Wednesday, only 13% of people polled think the government has been open and transparent about the Epstein case, while more than five times as many (67%) disagree, including 60% of Republicans and 56% of MAGA supporters. One voter in five says they haven’t been following the case.
Why can’t the president’s most ardent supporters let go of the Epstein files? Why is this breaking through when there have been countless controversies before, including dozens of women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct and his being found liable in court for sexual abuse in 2023?
Below, we ask psychologists and therapists what’s going through the minds of Trump’s MAGA followers.
A Little Background On The Epstein Files
A GOP insider told Politico Playbook this week that the president seems legitimately concerned about how he’ll be impacted by the controversy around his administration’s handling of the Epstein files.
According to the source, the president recently complained that he would be accused “of some funny business” in connection with the disgraced financier, who died in federal prison in 2019, a month after he was arrested on charges of sex trafficking minors.
“They’re going to fuck me anyways,” Trump reportedly said, according to Playbook.
“When we look at the MAGA hardcore, we typically see the pathological ‘othering’ of two specific classes of people: immigrants and ‘sex perverts.’”
– Steve K. D. Eichel, psychologist
The renewed interest in Epstein was prompted by a memo put out by Trump’s Justice Department and the FBI earlier this month stating that there was no evidence to suggest he was killed or that he held a client list to blackmail people.
Trump had previously promised to release files on Epstein as recently as last year. QAnon conspiracy theorists in his base wonder why his administration is now treating the Epstein files like a nonissue. (Followers of QAnon consider Epstein a key figure in a satanic cabal of pedophiles that includes the world’s most powerful people. Though Trump was friends with Epstein for years, he’s long been seen as the white-knight figure destined to defeat that cabal.)
As more details emerge about Trump’s friendship with Epstein ― last week, The Wall Street Journal released a report detailing an innuendo-laced birthday letter Trump gave to Epstein, and this week, it was reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in the spring that his name appeared in the Epstein files ― the president has implored his supporters and the press to just move on.
Davidoff Studios Photography via Getty Images
Future President Donald Trump and his then-girlfriend (and future wife) Melania Knauss pose with financier (and future convicted sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in February 2000.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years,” Trump shot back at a reporter questioning the administration’s handling of the issue earlier this month. “Are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”
On Truth Social, the president called his base “stupid” and “foolish” for inquiring about Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation.
Team Trump and the president himself have tried to “flood the zone” on social media. But any story or Truth Social post they’ve thrown out to distract Americans from this latest controversy ― releasing thousands of files about civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and a bizarre AI-generated video of President Barack Obama being arrested and thrown in jail ― has failed to make a mark.
Republicans, it seems, are struggling to get out from this news cycle because, for once, it’s their MAGA base that is leading the charge against Trump. (When you’ve lost the support of “QAnon shaman” Jake Chansley, you know you’ve got problems.)
Adam Gray via Getty Images
A billboard in Times Square calls for the release of the Epstein files.
Trump is disappointing some who saw him as a crusader against sexual deviancy.
As many have noted ― Trump included, a number of times ― no rules apply to him in Trump world. Though he’s bragged about being able to “grab [women] by the pussy” and been accused of sexual misconduct numerous times, for many in the MAGA movement, Trump is still seen as the avenger of what they deem sex deviancy: gay people, trans people, celebrities and elites they claim are involved in pedophilia rings.
“When we look at the MAGA hardcore, we typically see the pathological ‘othering’ of two specific classes of people: immigrants and ‘sex perverts,’” said Steve K. D. Eichel, a psychologist who studies cults and other cultic relationships.
Eichel believes the latter category is mostly the result of a moral panic that is also a projection of significant psychosexual confusion and repression on the part of hyper-religious MAGAs.
“Research has shown that homophobes tend to see far more gay people than is statistically valid, just as antisemites see far more Jews than actually exist,” he said.
Similarly, Eichel said, sex-obsessed MAGAs see far more sexual and gender “perverts” and “perversions” than actually exist and believe Trump is a warrior against this tide. For them, hostile masculinity and sexual violence don’t count as sexual perversion.
“Drag shows are repulsive but ‘grabbing them by the pussy’ is OK and in the MAGA manosphere, actually welcomed by women,” Eichel said.
Trump’s hesitation to release the Epstein files could be a breaking point for some, but other MAGA faithful have let it slide.
“It’s far too dissonant for some in MAGA to reconcile, so they’ll deny reality ― Trump will continue to be seen as an innocent victim of liberal, Democratic misinformation ― while others will feel directly and personally betrayed and, for now, become enraged,” he said.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images
MAGA’s inability to let the Epstein files go is “sunk cost fallacy meets betrayal,” said Natalie Feinblatt, a psychologist who specializes in cult recovery.
People really want to punish the elites.
As Josh Marshall noted this week in a Talking Points Memo piece, one of the most revealing aspects of MAGA’s obsession with the Epstein files is the focus on the punishment of the “elites” who are supposedly implicated in them. Marshall argued that for Trump supporters, Pizzagate, QAnon and the Epstein case are less about tracking down pedophiles and more about punishing liberal elites.
Widening the scope, though, there’s been a steady drumbeat against the billionaire class since COVID, when differences in experiences based on social class and income were never more obvious, said Manahil Riaz, a therapist in Houston. (Think of “eat the rich” and the general scorn directed at the hyper-wealthy.)
“Since the pandemic, people have started to question class privilege and are less inclined to idealize billionaires, CEOs or political elites,” Riaz told HuffPost.
“There’s a growing awareness that power doesn’t equal virtue, and that often, those in power use it to harm rather than help,” she added. “The Epstein case symbolizes that betrayal, and for many, it’s a line that can’t be morally overlooked — regardless of political affiliation.”
The Washington Post via Getty Images
A protester holds a photo of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump in Los Angeles.
They’ve invested too much in Epstein-related conspiracy theories to let this one go.
There’s some sunk cost fallacy going on here, too: QAnon believers have invested so much time and energy into the Epstein files, they’re not going to let go now.
“It’s sunk cost fallacy meets betrayal,” said Natalie Feinblatt, a psychologist who specializes in cult recovery.
“People who’ve poured years of belief, energy and identity into the MAGA and Q world are facing a painful internal contradiction: ‘I’ve given everything to this cause … how could it betray me?’” she said. “These feelings are especially potent when the betrayal comes from someone you viewed as a savior.”
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
“People who’ve poured years of belief, energy, and identity into the MAGA and Q world are facing a painful internal contradiction,” said Natalie Feinblatt, a psychologist who specializes in cult recovery.
Child abuse is an ethical issue that goes beyond Democrats versus Republicans.
Given the gravity of Epstein’s alleged crimes ― child trafficking, paying girls as young as 14 for sex — there truly is a moral dimension to some people’s need for answers on the case.
“What makes this issue resonate so strongly, even across political lines, is that it’s nearly impossible to ignore,” Riaz said. “There’s overwhelming evidence that powerful individuals were involved and that a system allowed this exploitation to go unchecked for years.”
“Most people care deeply about children. We were all children once, and we instinctively protect those who are innocent and defenseless,” Riaz added. “That shared humanity makes this issue hit close to home for just about everyone.”
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For many people ― even ardent Trump supporters ― this has forced a reckoning. That’s especially true for those who’ve experienced sexual abuse themselves, said Bandy X. Lee, a forensic psychiatrist and editor of “The Much More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 50 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Warn Anew.”
They believed Trump when he promised to expose elite networks of exploitation of power, Lee said. “Trump’s rise to power, exploiting this hidden epidemic, has the potential to be his undoing.”
“His failure to release the files shatters the trust and pierces through the dynamic of ‘identification with the aggressor,’” she explained. “Like the awakening of a cult or a gang member, this may serve as a crack in the authoritarian bond.”
