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Heather Cox Richardson
Foreign.
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Political Analyst
2025 after years of covering Donald J. Trump, I'm used to seeing stories that would have sunk any other president simply fade away as he hammers on to some new, unprecedented action that dominates the news. So I'm surprised by what appears to be the staying power of the recent Jeffrey Epstein scandal. That Trump is panicked by the threat of the release of material concerning convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein seems very clear after the backlash against the Department of Justice's decision not to release any more information. And to reiterate that Epstein died by suicide, Trump tried first to downplay Epstein's importance and convince people to move on when that blew up. He posted a long screed on social media last Saturday saying the files were written by Democrats, Democrats and other supposed enemies of his. This morning, Trump posted another long message on social media blaming radical left Democrats for creating the story of the Epstein files. Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, he wrote. And then he turned on his own supporters for demanding the administration release the files. My past supporters have bought into this bull hook line and sinker. They haven't learned their lesson and probably never will. Even after being conned by the lunatic left for eight long years. I have had more success in six months than perhaps any president in our country's history. And all these people want to talk about with strong prodding by the fake news and the success starved Dems is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work. Don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success because I don't want their support anymore. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Make America Great again. Tellingly, Trump compared the Jeffrey Epstein hoax to the Russia, Russia, Russia scam, itself, a totally fake and made up story used in order to hide Crooked Hillary Clinton's big loss in the 2016 presidential election. But of course, the ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian operatives and Russian interference in the 2016 election were not a hoax. They were well established, both by special counsel Robert Mueller, a Republican, and by the Republican dominated Senate Intelligence Committee. Ever since his campaign's ties to Russia first came to light, Trump has hammered on the idea that the investigation was a hoax, not just to distance himself from potentially illegal behavior, but also because if he could get his followers to reject the truth and accept his lies about what had happened, they would be psychologically committed to him. Although 34 people and three companies were indicted or pleaded guilty in the attack on the 2016 election or its cover up Trump loyalists believed Trump was the victim of a deep state run by Democrats. Trump had successfully marketed his own narrative over the truth, and his supporters would continue to believe him rather than those calling him out. From then on, whenever in danger of being called out, he harked back to Russia, Russia, Russia and the Russian hoax to rally supporters to him. Once again, he is reaching back to Russia, Russia, Russia to reinforce his ability to control the narrative. But this time it does not appear to be working. As Jae Kuo outlined in the Status Quo today, Trump owes his 2024 victory to QAnon followers who believe a cabal of Democratic lawmakers, rich elites and Hollywood film stars are sex trafficking and even eating children. Prri, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that researches religion, culture and politics, estimated that in 2024 about 19% of Americans believed in QAnon. CNN chief data analyst Harry Entin noted yesterday that QAnon supporters preferred Trump to Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 by 61 points. More broadly, Enten noted that Trump's political career has depended on conspiracy theorists. From his 2016 support from those who believed Trump's birther charges that President Barack Obama wasn't born in the United states to his 2024 primary support from those who believed President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 presidential election legitimately. Those supporters followed Trump because they believed he was leading a secret charge against those child sex traffickers. Now that his administration says it will not release any more information about Epstein's files, they appear to feel betrayed. Trump seems to be in full panic mode over the idea that information from the Epstein investigation might come to light. He and Epstein were friends, frequently photographed together in the years of Epstein's operation. After turning on his former supporters on social media, Trump continued his attacks in an Oval Office meeting today, reiterating his claims that the Epstein files were written by Democrats. But then he continued to attack his own supporters, saying that stupid Republicans, foolish Republicans and stupid people had fallen for the Democrats Epstein hoax and were demanding the release of the files. Billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's sidekick in the White House before the two fell out, has been hammering on the issue to his 222 million followers on his social media platform X. He should just release the files and point out which part is the hoax, musk wrote. Trump's political success has stemmed in large part from his projection of dominance, and perhaps part of his supporters willingness to cut ties to him comes from his recent behavior, which projects confusion. On Saturday at the FIFA Club World cup trophy ceremony, Trump seemed to miss the signal that he should leave the stage as the winning team celebrated and had to be maneuvered behind the players. Yesterday, he fell asleep on stage at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. At the same event, Trump told what CNN fact checker Daniel Dale called an especially odd imaginary tale, claiming that his uncle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had taught Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber. Trump recounted a conversation with his uncle about Kaczynski, but in fact, Kaczynski didn't go to mit, and Trump's uncle John died more than a decade before Kaczynski became famous, so Trump and his uncle could not have identified him as the Unabomber. Today, Trump called chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell a terrible Fed chair and added, I was surprised he was appointed. Trump was the president who appointed him. Finally today, Trump's Department of Justice fired longtime employee Maureen Comey, who had prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, to bring things full circle. Maureen Comey is the daughter of James Comey, the Republican former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whom Trump fired for refusing to drop the FBI investigation into ties between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian operatives.
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Heather Cox Richardson
Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dedham, MA. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.