Supporters of Donald Trump have long embraced beliefs about him that are directly contradicted by his own words, conduct, and public record. It is a testament to how effective coordinated misinformation campaigns—some tied to hostile foreign governments—have been on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
For example, a good sized portion of the MAGA movement got its initial footing by excitedly clinging on the Q-Anon conspiracy which posited that Donald Trump would come to Washington to arrest, prosecute and execute child sex predators. This belief persisted despite Trump’s own public boasts about entering Miss Teen USA dressing rooms while contestants were undressed, as well as his recorded statements about kissing women without consent and “grabbing” them because of his celebrity.
This was the man that they believed would come to Washington and dismantle child sex trafficking rings.
Fox News: Catering To Viewers Beliefs
Fox News read the polls and understood what their viewership was talking about and believed and, not wanting to lose valuable eyeballs to sell ads to, decided to cater to them rather than educate them, upset them, and lose them as viewers to more radical networks.
This has been the ongoing theme since 2015 — Rightwing media deifying Trump selling an image of him to viewers that is in stark contrast to who he actually is.
Remember the October 2024 controversy where the Trump Campaign accused CBS’ 60 Minutes of airing an interview with Kamala Harris that was edited in order to misrepresent her? What Trump and his allies kept hidden was a far more egregious case of editing by Fox News.
Donald Trump was enraged when 60 Minutes edited their interview with Kamala Harris that aired on October 7th 2024, accusing them of election interference. CBS denied the accusation but after Trump won and started settling scores, Paramount, their parent company chose to settle a lawsuit that Trump had brought against them for $16 million.
With Trump, Every Accusation Is An Admission
What rarely gets spoken about in rightwing circles is that just months before the Kamala Harris interview, Fox News edited their own June 3, 2024 interview with Trump which yielded a far more deceptive result.
In June 2024, Trump sat for an interview with Fox and Friends which was aired with the headline that Trump Vows To Declassify JFK, Epstein Files. What didn’t come to light until after the election was that Fox had edited the segment cast his statement in a far better light than his unedited response expressing hesitation and reversal had been.
See if you can spot the difference:
Fox News Interview That Aired:
Same Interview Fox Later Streamed On Other Platforms
From his unedited answer, it’s obvious that Trump was having second thoughts about releasing the Epstein Files long before he would be in a position to do so. Once elected, however, he filled the government with supporters who wanted to see the files released, including JD Vance, Kash Patel, and Dan Bongino.
The Battle to Release The Files
Since his inauguration, Trump has completely flip-flopped on the illusion that had been sold to his followers. Kash Patel quickly wrapped up the investigation and handed it off to Pam Bondi who declared the case over and done with, surprising everyone.
Reports and unverified accounts circulated that Bondi declined to release the files while directing DOJ staff to review and redact references to Trump—claims the department has neither confirmed nor denied. While on the outs with Trump, Elon Musk infamously declared that the files wouldn’t be coming because “Trump is in the Epstein Files“.
This kicked off a battle to get the files released. House Democrats on the Oversight Committee, joined by Republicans including Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert began subpoenaing files from Epstein’s Estate, conducting their own reviews and redactions, and releasing them to the public. With each statement or document release, Donald Trump hurled attacks at Democrats and Republicans on the Oversight Committee who supported releasing the files.
The information in those disclosers was juicy enough that Democrats were finally able to force a vote on Epstein Files Transparency Act on the House Floor which would require the Department of Justice to release the files. Surprisingly, the resolution passed the Senate unanimously and would have passed the House unanimously if not for Republican hold-out Clay Higgins, who chose to be on the wrong side of history.
Changing Tunes
Once the fight to keep the Epstein Files away from public scrutiny was lost, the Trump Administration tried to embark on a new tactic, declaring that they supported the release in the name of transparency.
Even Trump tried to switch gears — when asked by Fox News whether he supported the imminent release, he declared “I’m all for it“, even though it’s clear he remains staunchly opposed to it.
DOJ Curating The Epstein File Releases
It’s been clear that the Department of Justice has been working overtime to minimize the damage to Donald Trump. Their first disclosure of files pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act prominently featured Bill Clinton while conveniently omitting nearly every reference to Trump.
After public outcry, the Justice Department began releasing files that included Donald Trumps name, including some with horrifying accusations against him. The DOJ and FBI quickly stepped in and declared those accusations were false or unfounded without disclosing anything about how they reached their conclusion.
In fact, it seems that the Justice Departments barometer of whether anything in the Epstein Files referring to Donald Trump is “real” is if the Biden Administration tried to weaponize it before the election. And because the Biden Administration stuck to the previous norms of keeping the Justice Department far away from politics, none of this ever came to light.
Now, Trump continues to try to force the Justice Deparment’s hand into being his own political weapon by demanding they release information from the files that will damn and “embarrass” the Democrats. He’s not asking them to release files that could expose any co-conspirators of Epstein’s. He’s not even asking them to release files that could exonerate himself. He only wants them to release files that he can use to smear his political opponents.
These are not the actions of a man seeking transparency. They are the actions of someone seeking control over what the public is allowed to see. Perhaps to deflect from his own guilt.
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