It's Not Just Epstein. MAGA Is Angry About a Lot of Things
But just like many other parts of the MAGA universe as of late, many users have had enough.
'So disappointed in Trump on this one, it's inexcusable,' a user wrote in the early hours of Monday morning, echoing widespread anger and resentment at the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Trump and his allies had promised Republicans that once they took office they would release explosive revelations about what really happened when Epstein, the accused sex trafficker, died in custody in 2019—and his supposed 'client list.' But last week, the FBI and the Department of Justice issued a memo concluding that there was no cover-up and that Epstein had died by suicide. Even worse, the memo stated that the Epstein 'client list' that attorney general Pam Bondi had said was on her desk in February didn't actually exist.
The outrage was instant and overwhelming, as grassroots supporters, right-wing influencers, and conservative media outlets fumed. It wasn't just about Epstein. It was, to them, a denial of the alleged child abuse rings that have become a cornerstone of conspiracy theories related to Epstein. The anger intensified further after WIRED reported that surveillance footage from a camera positioned near Epstein's prison cell the night before he was found dead had likely been modified.
Trump has been scrambling to dismiss the criticism and defend Bondi, writing in a Truth Social post on Saturday that 'selfish people' were trying to harm his administration 'all over a guy who never dies.'
The uproar around Epstein is just the latest in a number of bubbling Trumpworld concerns. For Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who now streams on X, it was the bombing of Iran. For Laura Loomer, a noted conspiracy theorist who has Trump's ear, it was Trump's acceptance of a luxury plane from Qatar. For Ben Shapiro, a pro-Trump podcaster, it was tariffs. For Joe Rogan, a massively popular podcaster, it was ICE raids targeting noncriminal, migrant workers. For Elon Musk, who recently left his role in DC as a special government employee, it was the Big Beautiful Bill.
To date, most high profile right-wing media figures have stopped short of attacking Trump directly, focusing their anger instead on Bondi or other administration figures. But as resentment continues to grow in these communities who feel betrayed by Trump, that could change.
'The potential is a death by thousands cuts scenario, where enough criticism hits from enough different angles that the calculus switches for a lot of the more influential figures in the movement,' Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America, tells WIRED.
One of the first signs that the current Trump administration would not be able to keep all its supporters happy came when Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed the MMR vaccine in the face of a deadly measles outbreak in Texas that began in January. Kennedy was hailed as an anti-vaccine hero by the alternative health community upon his appointment, but many of those same people were furious following his vaccine recommendation. 'I'm sorry, but we voted for challenging the medical establishment, not parroting it,' Mary Talley Bowden, a doctor who criticized COVID vaccines, wrote on X in April, echoing many other angry responses.
Last week, conspiracy theorists who believe the government is secretly controlling and manipulating the weather to control the US population began to turn on Trump.
Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, posted a video saying that his agency would release 'everything we know' about geoengineering. When the subsequent webpages went live with information debunking the 'chemtrails' conspiracy theory, Trump supporters were not happy. The chemtrails conspiracy theory falsely claims that the straight-line condensation trails visible behind aircraft are actually clouds of toxic chemicals sprayed by government-controlled planes in order to infect the population.
'Zeldin is engaged in a pitiful attempt at damage control due to the rapidly growing awareness of the weather warfare raging in our skies,' Dane Wigington, who writes a conspiracy-laced geoengineering blog, wrote on X.
Even Trump's key conservative platforms are drawing critique. Though Trump's embrace of ultra-hardline immigration practices and far-right policies like remigration seemed to be the answer to the wishes of even the most extreme far-right figures, some are concerned the deportations are not happening nearly fast enough.
'Mass deportations are a lie,' white nationalist Nick Fuentes wrote on X last week, later adding: 'At a certain point you can't keep blaming the 'bad advisors' or personnel around Trump. We have been playing this game for +10 years now. Who appointed all of the personnel anyway? There are no excuses left.' This sentiment was shared among many far-right communities online. 'Trump needs to just do it. We elected him because he said he would. Just do it,' one member of The Donald wrote.
'When do the mass deportations start?' David Freeman, a pro-Trump influencer known online as Gunther Eagleman, wrote on X earlier this month to his 1.4 million followers.
Some influencers have started to directly call out Trump.
'He's doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for,' Andrew Schulz, a comedian and one of the high-profile podcasters who interviewed Trump in the lead up to last year's election, said during the most recent episode of his 'Flagrant' podcast.
'The risk for Trump would be if the grassroots people who spend money on subscriptions and who watch YouTube videos and listen to podcasts start demanding something else from the people in the influencer class,' says Gertz. 'The influencer class is going to have to adjust to what would be a new paradigm in the way right wing political media is functioning. I think we're certainly nowhere near there yet but if that does ever switch, I would imagine it would happen pretty quickly as different figures see others having success with it.'
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