The Scandal That’s Sticking Deflection and diversion for once aren’t working for Teflon Don Dan Rather and Team Steady Jul 17 Credit: Getty Images It comes as no surprise that Donald Trump doesn’t think a special prosecutor is needed for the Jeffrey Epstein case. That announcement on Thursday is the latest Trump tactic to kill this story. But with every move to explain away his lack of action in releasing the files of a child sexual predator, who once was a close friend of Trump, his base grows more enraged. And Trump looks more and more suspicious. A week ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be writing about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal once, much less a second time in four days. But here we are. And that is the point. The story isn’t going away, no matter how badly Donald Trump wants it to … and he wants it badly. As we reported, MAGA is hopping mad and getting madder, as Trump loses his grip on the narrative and lashes out at his most loyal followers. To recap: Trump decided not to release the Epstein files, claiming there was nothing to see here. He downplayed the importance of the list of prominent people who were allegedly involved in child sex trafficking. What a change for Trump, who dined out for years on Epstein conspiracy theories only to now call it all a “hoax.” MAGA then melted down, and Trump told them to move on. When they didn’t, he fell back to his old reliables — blaming Joe Biden and/or Barack Obama. That’s a tough one to pull off considering Epstein was arrested and died in jail all on Trump’s watch. When his supporters were still demanding satisfaction, he turned on them, calling them “stupid” and “foolish.” He wrote that his “PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullsh**t,’ hook, line, and sinker.” The White House communications team, which normally publishes all of his Truth Social posts on X, did not repost this one. Trump has managed to alienate a group of people so enthralled with him that they witnessed an insurrection on January 6 and now profess to believe it was just a group of patriots wanting a tour of the Capitol. Trump’s hold on the MAGA coalition has slackened in recent weeks after several unpopular moves. He cut Medicaid after promising not to touch entitlements. He campaigned as the “no new wars” candidate and then bombed Iran. He is sending weapons and supplies to Ukraine, when he pledged to end the war there on Day 1. Even his breakup with Elon Musk displeased a contingent of the far right. While he seemed to weather each of these mini-crises, the addition of a major crisis — Epstein — has caused a fissure in the MAGAsphere and a crack in the armor of the self-described “Teflon Don.” Rather than lay low, cease talking about Epstein, and stop maligning his ardent supporters, Trump doubles and triples down. He had federal prosecutor Maurene Comey fired late Wednesday. She had prosecuted the cases against Epstein and his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. If Comey’s name sounds familiar, it’s because her father, James Comey, FBI director during Trump’s first term, was fired for refusing to drop the investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia. Trump’s once and former followers are fanning the flames of the scandal. Musk has been barking questions about Trump and Epstein to his 222 million followers on X. MAGA influencer Lara Loomer and Trump acolyte Representative Lauren Boebert are leading the charge for a special counsel. Right-wing podcaster Theo Von reposted a clip of JD Vance calling for the release of the Epstein files from last month, asking, “What changed?” Even lapdog Speaker Mike Johnson said the files should be released. With friends like these, who needs Democrats? Apparently, Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who is clearly not getting invited to Thanksgiving at the White House. He and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna have introduced the “Epstein Files Transparency Act” to force a House vote on releasing everything the Justice Department has on Epstein. How is all this playing in Peoria? Not great, if you’re the president. A new CNN poll says that only 3% of U.S. adults are satisfied with the amount of information the government has released about Epstein. And 67% of respondents in a YouGov poll say the government is covering up evidence. The stress of having MAGA world turn on him may be getting to the president. While there were many times on the campaign trail that Trump looked and acted his 78 years — giving rambling, incoherent speeches, mixing up or forgetting names and places — during the first part of his second term, those slips have been kept to a minimum. Until last week. At the FIFA Club World Cup trophy ceremony in New Jersey, when champion team Chelsea posed for photos, Trump inexplicably put himself in the middle. The players managed to nudge him to the back. And then he pocketed a medal and said he was keeping the original trophy at the White House. A replica was given to the team. On Tuesday, he fell asleep on the stage of an energy summit in Pennsylvania, after pivoting from talking about artificial intelligence to telling an incomprehensible story about his uncle and the Unabomber. Trump claimed that John Trump, a professor at MIT, taught Ted Kaczynski and said he was a good student. Kaczynski did not attend the school. Trump has returned to his well-worn playbook, trying to distract the public by pushing other sensational stories to the fore. He threatened to strip comedian Rosie O’Donnell of her citizenship. He wants to prosecute Senator Adam Schiff for alleged mortgage fraud. He went after his favorite punching bag, Governor Gavin Newsom, and California’s plans for high-speed rail. He announced that the Coca-Cola Company will now make Coke with cane sugar rather than corn syrup. And he is trying to make hay of the fact that President Biden used an autopen to sign pardons. None of these non-stories seems to be sticking. Meanwhile, actual important news is getting less coverage than it deserves. Trump has threatened to fire Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, calling him “terrible.” “I was surprised he was appointed,” Trump said of the man he appointed. Also, the president cannot fire the Fed chief. The Wall Street Journal reports that six months of Trump’s questionable economic policies — tariffs, immigrant deportations, ballooning the deficit — are showing up in a weakening economy. Inflation is up, and job growth is down. Indications are that these trends will continue. A growing group of congressional Republicans is trying to encourage Trump to rethink his mass deportation policy, specifically around farmworkers. It is widely unpopular with the general public, and it will decimate an already hurting U.S. agriculture industry. And there is even real news about Epstein that has gotten lost in the kerfuffle. Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat from Oregon, has been investigating Epstein’s finances for years. He has found evidence of huge amounts of other people’s money — billions of dollars — that Epstein allegedly moved to help finance his sex-trafficking network, among other findings. Why is Trump so determined not to release the files? If they contain damaging information about Democrats, he would have leaked them months ago. If the files include no mention of Trump, why not release them now? The only person Trump would go to these lengths to protect is himself. Steady is free, but to support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, we’d appreciate it if you would consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible for all. If you are not able to upgrade, we understand. No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading. Stay Steady, Dan