Donald Trump does not want to talk about Jeffrey Epstein. Asked on Tuesday about his administration’s refusal to release files related to the dead financier who allegedly sex-trafficked underage girls—and about Epstein’s significant ties to powerful people, including Trump himself—the president lashed out. “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years,” a visibly frustrated Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “You’re asking—we have [the deadly floods in] Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”

Unfortunately for Trump, many of his staunchest backers very much want to talk about Epstein—and they’re furious with him and his administration for what they see as not just a broken promise but participation in a massive cover-up. MAGA world has been in full revolt since the Department of Justice announced on July 6 that Epstein’s long-rumored “client list” did not exist and that Epstein died by suicide in jail (i.e., he was not murdered at the behest of one or more of his wealthy and powerful clients). And their fury reveals that one of the deepest roots of Trump’s political appeal—as a sort of traitorous elite who would bring the true elites to heel—may be rotting.

Laura Loomer, the far-right troll who is generally loathed even in the White House but has one very important........

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