Latest news with #MAGAverse
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fox News' Peter Doocy corners Karoline Leavitt on Pam Bondi's broken Epstein ‘client list' promise
With much of the MAGAverse irate over the Trump administration's conclusion that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself and didn't possess an explosive 'client list,' Fox News' Peter Doocy grilled Karoline Leavitt about Attorney General Pam Bondi's previous 'Epstein file' claims. 'So what happened to the Epstein client list that the attorney general said she had on her desk?' Doocy wondered during Monday's White House press briefing. Bondi, who has faced the brunt of conservatives' wrath for failing to deliver on her past promises of releasing a 'truckload' of bombshell FBI documents on Epstein, told Fox News in late February that she literally had possession of the convicted sex offender's supposed black book of prominent figures who engaged in illegal sexual activities. 'It's sitting on my desk right now to review,' the attorney general told Fox News anchor John Roberts at the time. 'That's been a directive by President Trump.' Following a much-maligned photo-op where she handed MAGA influencers binders full of already-public documents about the Epstein case, Bondi attempted to save face in an early March appearance on Sean Hannity's primetime Fox News show. Suggesting a 'deep state' coverup was to blame for the earlier botched release, Bondi then insisted that the FBI had just given her and FBI Director Kash Patel a treasure trove of never-before-seen information. 'A truckload of evidence arrived. It's now in the possession of the FBI,' she breathlessly told Hannity. 'Kash is going to get me and himself, really, a detailed report as to why all these documents and evidence had been withheld.' This week, however, the Department of Justice and FBI released a two-page unsigned memo concluding that the agencies had found no evidence that Epstein was murdered in his jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019. Additionally, they were unable to find any list of powerful clients that Epstein was attempting to blackmail for having sex with underage girls. In the end, despite Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino being frequent purveyors of Epstein conspiracy theories as right-wing media figures, the DOJ and FBI stated that no one else involved with the Epstein case would be charged. Naturally, the FBI leaders and Bondi have come under fire from the MAGA media ecosystem over their handling of the Epstein probe – which carried over to Monday's White House presser. Responding to a Newsmax reporter asking what she would tell Trump supporters who say they want anyone involved in Epstein's alleged crimes to be held accountable, Leavitt claimed that the administration was 'committed to truth' and had investigated the matter thoroughly. 'They committed to an exhaustive investigation, that's what they did, and they provided the results of that. That's transparency,' the White House press secretary noted. Doocy, however, followed up by bringing up Bondi's past declarations about being in possession of specific evidence in the federal Epstein case, and wondered why the attorney general now claims these documents do not exist. 'The FBI looked at the circumstances surrounding the death of Jeffrey Epstein,' the Fox News correspondent stated. 'According to the report, this systematic review revealed no incriminating client list. So what happened to the Epstein client list that the attorney general said she had on her desk?' After Leavitt attempted to reframe what Bondi had said during her Fox News interview, Doocy cut her off and confronted her with the attorney general's exact quotes. 'John Roberts said, 'DOJ may be releasing a list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients, will that really happen?' And she said, 'It's sitting on my desk right now to review,'' Doocy flatly said. 'She was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork and relation to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, that's what the attorney general was referring to and I will let her speak for that,' Leavitt deflected, adding: 'But when it comes to the FBI and the Department of Justice, they are more than committed to ensuring that bad people are put behind bars.' Since the release of the memo, Bondi has been ripped by a number of MAGA loyalists who are incensed about her overhyping the release of the Epstein documents while failing to prosecute influential figures, calling for her to resign or be fired. On top of that, former 'first buddy' Elon Musk has said the DOJ memo is the 'final straw,' as he now vows to start a new political party after reigniting his public feud with Trump.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
MAGA media titan makes sensational Iran U-turn as he tells Trump 'we'll get on board' with strikes
Steve Bannon said that Donald Trump loyalists will fall behind the president if he decided to back Israel in striking Iran. It's a massive flip from Trump's former chief strategist who has in the past been adamantly opposed to strikes against Iran. Bannon said that the MAGA movement will stand behind Trump – even if they might not be fully on board with the idea of the U.S. backing Israel's attacks on Iran. 'If President Trump decides there's not a diplomatic alternative… because he's been consistent, no nuclear weapon,' Bannon said during a Christian Science Monitor event on Wednesday. He continued: 'If President Trump decides to do that, I know, and particularly his skills as a communicator, that he will come and walk people through it and the MAGA movement—look, there'll be some— but the vast majority of the MAGA movement will say, 'look, we trust your judgment, you walked us through this.'' 'Maybe we hate it but, you know, we'll get on board,' Bannon concluded. There are clear divisions within the MAGAverse over whether Trump should involve the U.S. in Israel's escalating conflict with Iran. Earlier on Wednesday, Trump dodged on whether the U.S. will get involved and strike Iranian nuclear facilities. 'I may do it, I may not do it,' the president said. Bannon acknowledged that Trump's decision to take action against Iran might divide the movement even further. 'If the president as commander-in-chief makes a decision to do this and comes forward and walks people through it, the MAGA movement— they'll lose some— but the MAGA movement, the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, the Matt Gaetzs, we will fight it up to the end and make sure you get full information but if he has more intelligence and makes that case to the American people, the MAGA movement will support President Trump,' he said. In an effort to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapon capabilities, Israel launched earlier this month its so-called Operation Rising Lion. The air campaign began June 12 and saw Israel strike Iran's leadership, nuclear facilities and military infrastructure. This included a targeted strike on the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility where several senior Iranian nuclear scientists and military commanders were killed. Iran retaliated with launching ballistic missiles and drones on Israeli military targets and civilian populations, mostly in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Most missiles headed for Israel were intercepted. Trump returned from the G7 in Canada early amid the ongoing missile barrages between Iran and U.S. ally Israel. In recent days, Trump's rhetoric has become more threatening towards Tehran. On Tuesday he met in the Situation Room with members of his national security team. The same day he called for Iran's 'unconditional surrender' and said Iran's Supreme Leader is an 'easy target,' though he sid there are no plans to target him in a strike – 'at least for now.'
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump signals openness to forgiving Musk
By Published: | Updated: Donald Trump weighed in on his very public feud with billionaire Elon Musk and claimed he is open to forgiving his former 'first buddy.' The president said he has 'no hard feelings' but was 'surprised' when Musk turned against him over his massive proposed spending legislation dubbed the Big Beautiful Bill. Asked by Pod Force One host Miranda Devine if he could forgive Musk, Trump said: 'I guess I could.' 'I have no hard feelings,' he admitted. 'But I was really surprised that that happened.' 'He went after a bill that's phenomenal, it's the best thing we've ever signed in this country,' Trump told the New York Post podcast host . 'And when he did that I was not a happy camper. So, it's too bad.' Musk admitted overnight that he was wrong to publish some of the posts he made last week that kicked off a civil war within the MAGAverse. 'I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,' the SpaceX and Tesla boss posted to his social media platform X just after 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. He did not specify which posts he regretted making but the pair of billionaires exchanged multiple insults as their spat exploded publicly earlier this month. The signal of contrition from Musk brings some relief to Republicans on Capitol Hill, who are desperate to avoid divisions as they continue work on Trump's signature tax‑and‑spending legislation. During their row Musk even claimed on X that Trump didn't want to publish the Epstein Files fully because he is named in them. He also posted support for impeachment, but has since deleted that one. Trump told ABC News that Musk had 'lost his mind.' Devine pressed Trump in the podcast interview, published on Wednesday, on what he thinks is wrong with the tech billionaire.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump's four-word response on whether he'll EVER reconcile with Elon Musk after bitter feud
Donald Trump weighed-in on his very public feud with billionaire Elon Musk and claimed he is open to forgiving his former 'first buddy.' The president said he has 'no hard feelings' but was 'surprised' when Musk turned against him over massive spending legislation dubbed the Big Beautiful Bill. Asked by Pod Force One host Miranda Devine if he could forgive Musk, Trump said: 'I guess I could.' 'I have no hard feelings,' he admitted. 'But I was really surprised that that happened.' 'He went after a bill that's phenomenal, it's the best thing we've ever signed in this country,' Trump told the New York Post podcast host. 'And when he did that I was not a happy camper. So, it's too bad.' Musk admitted overnight that he was wrong to publish some of the posts he made last week that kicked off a civil war within the MAGAverse. 'I regret some of my posts about President DonaldTrump last week. They went too far,' the SpaceX and Tesla boss posted to his social media platform X just after 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. He did not specify which posts he regretted making but the pair of billionaires exchanged multiple public insults as their spat exploded into the public earlier this month. Musk even claimed on X that Trump didn't want to publish the Epstein Files fully because he is named in them. He also posted support for impeachment, but has since deleted that one. Trump told ABC News that Musk had 'lost his mind.' Devine pressed Trump in the podcast interview published on Wednesday on what he thinks is wrong with the tech billionaire. 'I don't know what his problem is really, I don't know,' Trump replied. 'I haven't thought much about it in the last little while. I think he feels very badly, he said that, actually.' It seems the whole ordeal stemmed from Trump's massive spending legislation that passed the House on May 22. Musk disagreed with the bill and said that it flew in the face of the efforts he made as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In the feud, Musk began reposting sentiments from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is vocal in his opposition of the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
New York Times
06-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Musk and Trump's Reality TV Dispute
A recent headline The Times has run about the Elon Musk-Donald Trump breakup includes the phrase 'Trump Has No Plans to Call Musk, Officials Say.' I guess they're at the no-contact point, after many hours of dramatic public scrapping on social media. Trump is threatening to sell his Tesla. There's been a variety of responses from the greater MAGAverse. While the majority of people appear to be siding with the president, there are a few who are on the fence, like the far-right influencer Jack Posobiec, who posted on X: Some of y'all cant handle 2 high agency males going at it and it really shows This is direct communication (phallocentric) vs indirect communication (gynocentric) I understand you aren't used to it This view of masculinity is fascinating to me. Historically, 'phallocentric' communication was that you walked over to a guy and punched him in the face, or asked him to step outside. Even in professional wrestling, which involves histrionic male rivalries and is revered by Trump world, enemies eventually hit each other over the head with a folding chair (even if it's for show). I'm not saying it's the best way to work out differences, but that's the cowboy stereotype. Hurling epithets over social media with your friends as Trump and Musk have spent much of the last 24 hours doing is not behavior that I think of as traditionally male; if anything, it's passive-aggressive and female coded. It's Season 2 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' Taylor versus Demi. It's any given season of 'Real Housewives,' where the women divvy their loyalties up behind whoever is the reigning alpha. I half expect Andy Cohen to moderate the MAGA reunion, if he could even get Trump and Musk in a room together. In The Atlantic earlier this year, Jill Filipovic called this version of manhood 'The Adolescent Style in American Politics.' I called it 'Toxic Immaturity' in 2023. This style of masculinity rejects the old-fashioned notion that being a man means being a provider, a moral exemplar or a protector. That's been replaced by disruption and edgelord posturing without any accountability to other people. If that's what passes for aspirational masculinity these days, men and boys are in more trouble than I thought.
