It is difficult to turn away from the Trump show. Every day brings new chaos, new cruelty, new tests of democracy. Each day, like a cat chasing a laser pointer, we’re drawn into the latest crisis. Trump is a master at controlling the news, at BEING the news.
So, each morning we rise to discover the latest Trump-news. This week, some of us heard new news about Jeffrey Epstein, unless you watched Fox News, who heeded Trump’s message of “nothing to see here.”
Media Matters, who watches things like this, reported that from July 18, the day Tulsi Gabbard released another report on Barack Obama’s involvement in the 2016 election, through July 23, Fox News mentioned Obama more than Epstein every day. “In total, Fox has mentioned Obama 445 times, in comparison to the network’s 127 mentions of Epstein. Mentions of Obama on the network have only been increasing as well, going from 54 mentions on July 18 to 121 mentions on July 22.”
Every other network they measured, including Newsmax, mentioned Epstein more than five times as often. So, for those that are unfamiliar, know that it has been more than five years since Jeffrey Epstein’s mysterious death in a federal jail cell. Trump told New York Magazine, in 2002, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
After Epstein was arrested in 2019, Trump said he only knew Epstein because “everybody in Palm Beach” did. He offered that he had not spoken to Epstein “in 15 years” due to “a falling out.”
“I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you,” Trump said.
And yet, pictures keep coming, videos keep popping up, raunchy letters get revealed, and even hard-core MAGA supporters are starting to pile on.
Unlike other Trump scandals, he cannot seem to deflect to another crisis, although he keeps trying. I don’t know if Trump has something to hide. Being listed in Epstein’s notes doesn’t automatically translate to guilt.
He could be completely innocent, but why don’t we just quit deflecting? Quit talking about low-pressure toilets, firing the Fed chairman, exploring pardons for Epstein’s partner, saying that Biden created the files, just quit. Release the damn files and go play a round of golf. Be done with it. Your whole team campaigned on it, so just do it.
If Joe Biden had posed for one photo with Epstein in 1985 while both dished out free lunch at a homeless shelter, Jim Jordan would convene a congressional hearing that day, and Lauren Boebert would cancel theater-sex to be there.
To be fair, Trump isn’t alone in his ties to Epstein. Bill Clinton’s name is certainly in there. And Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, Michael Jackson, Stephen Hawking (really?), Bruce Willis, Cameron Diaz, and Leonardo DiCaprio were noted to have social interactions with Epstein, although none have been accused of anything. This whole sordid mess is less a tale of partisan politics than it is of grotesque impunity for the rich and powerful.
And if Trump were actually implicated in something serious, does anyone think it would matter? Dozens of indictments and civil verdicts, thirty-four felony convictions, and $83 million awarded in a sexual abuse and defamation case, haven’t derailed Trump or his MAGA supporters.
There’s always a diversion, an “election interference” accusation, an Obama or Hillary story to re-litigate, or a Constitutional challenge to mount. There is always a new crisis to grab our attention. Accountability is for suckers. Real men just deny harder.
We may never know the full story. Files go missing, pictures get lost, pardons buy silence, and Americans are easily distracted by the latest shiny object. Democrats get excited because Trump is uncomfortable now. But just wait, he’ll figure out a sidestep somehow. MAGA always comes back.
Remember, Trump didn’t really like Rudy either. Or Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, all of whom ended up bankrupt, in jail, or both, while Trump shrugged them off.
So maybe the most disturbing truth of all is that Trump knows how to play us. He’s done it for ten years and the bet is that we get played again here. Perhaps we should just all get ready for his third term.
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Curt MacRae, a resident of Coldwater, MI, publishes regular opinion columns
To be notified by email when a column is published, or to offer feedback email rantsbymac@gmail.com
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