The Master of Distraction Fails to Distract
Trump's epic Epstein fumble
“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.” — Joseph Heller, Catch-22
My first thought was: Can this possibly be real? Because surely, this unhinged, weird post in which Donald Trump raged about the Epstein files and p*ssed all over his MAGA allies had to be a parody.
But, my fellow travelers through the Valley of Insanity, it was, indeed, real.
Mediaite’s Colby Hall called Trump’s “Please Stop Asking About Epstein’ Moment”, the “most bizarre plot twist yet.” And it did not go over well. At all.
The Master of Distraction spectacularly failed to distract. Instead, he (1) provided fodder to critics who suspect a cover-up, (2) guaranteed even more attention to the story, while (3) throwing the FBI’s #2, Dan Bongino, under the bus, (4) angering the MAGA base, and (5) digging a much, much deeper hole.
In other words: Donald Trump failed to exorcize the ghost of his buddy, Jeffrey Epstein, which now haunts his presidency in a way that no other issue has done, so far.
And he is deeply, deeply freaked out.
Happy Sunday.
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For those of you just waking up to it, here is what the president of the United States posted last night:
Let’s sift through the verbal diarrhea. In a single post, Trump:
(1) Acknowledged the existence of the Epstein files; and suggested that he had read them.
(2) Insisted that the files were written by “by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration.” (Which seems to suggest that the files include some nasty stuff about the Orange Horn Dog.)
(3) Called the whole story “a massive distraction”.
(4) Tripled down on his support for AG Pam Bondi’s cover-up-clusterf*ck handling of the issue, declaring “LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB - SHE’S GREAT”.
(5) Hectored his MAGA base to stop wasting time talking about Epstein, “somebody that nobody cares about.” and…
(6) Took full, personal, ownership of the Epstein coverup.
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For MAGA World, it was a genuine Holy Sh*t moment. “The backlash was immediate,” writes Hall. And something happened that we haven’t seen before: Trump got ratioed by his own loyal supporters on his own social media platform.
The post was swarmed with angry and skeptical comments, vastly outnumbering the likes and reposts. This kind of ratio isn’t just a matter of bad optics—it’s a warning flare from Trump’s base. The digital loyalty he once commanded without question is now, at least on this issue, showing serious cracks.
This is why it felt so different than other dust-ups and kerfuffles. “Trump’s political instincts,” noted Hall, “once unmatched in their ability to read and redirect outrage, seem out of step here. The Epstein files have become more than a scandal—they’ve become a symbol of elite corruption that Trump’s base is obsessed with exposing. His effort to deflect came off not as savvy or strategic, but suspicious.”
How bad was it? We do not have world enough and time to sift through the blowback. But you know it’s bad when even reliable toe-suckers and turd-polishers like Benny Johnson stray from the fold:
“By admitting that the Epstein Files are real, and have been written, and that you’ve read them, and you don’t like their contents, and they were written by your enemies, it doesn’t make the most compelling case as far as I’m concerned,” Johnson said. “Holy moly.”
Gen. Mike Flynn, the frothing conspiracist who served briefly as Trump’s national security advisor in his first term, warned: “@RealDonaldTrump, please understand the EPSTEIN AFFAIR is not going away.” The disillusionment echoed throughout right-wing media:
NBC puts this into context. Trump chose to drop his SHUT-UP ABOUT EPSTEIN post the same weekend that thousands of his loyalists gathered at the Student Action Summit hosted by the conservative activist group Turning Point USA.
And all they wanted to talk about was the “Epstein files.”
Trump pulled the rug out from his base Saturday evening when he released a lengthy social media post that completely dismissed the importance of the issue, which has consumed the right for the past week — and longer.
Exit take: This seems to be a good moment to remind folks that it was a singularly bad idea to elect a convicted felon - and a man found liable for sexual abuse, who bragged about grabbing women, and consorted with the world’s most notorious pedophile — to the presidency.
BONUS:
Trump’s other failed distraction
ICYMI, the president of the United States took time out from running the world to threaten… Rosie O’Donnell.
O’Donnell fired back:
“The president of the usa has always hated the fact that i see him for who he is - a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself - this is why i moved to ireland.
“he is a dangerous old soulless man with dementia who lacks empathy, compassion and basic humanity - i stand in direct opposition to all he represents - so do millions of others - u gonna deport all who stand against ur evil tendencies - ur a bad joke who cant form a coherent sentence #nevertrump”
Nota Bene
FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show - The New York Times
Two days after catastrophic floods roared through Central Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.
The lack of responsiveness happened because the agency had fired hundreds of contractors at call centers, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal matters.
The agency laid off the contractors on July 5 after their contracts expired and were not extended, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who has instituted a new requirement that she personally approve expenses over $100,000, did not renew the contracts until Thursday, five days after the contracts expired. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
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The Fallout Is Growing on Trump’s Deals With Law Firms - POLITICO
Trump’s executive orders and the deals struck by the settling firms have not aged well. The firms that threw in the towel appear to have misjudged the fallout — financial, reputational, political and legal. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has gotten hammered by the judges presiding over the cases challenging the White House, and it’s far from clear the government’s appeal will get a better reception in the higher courts, including the Supreme Court, if it gets there. Furthermore, the deals with the settling firms have so far produced scant results for the Trump administration in concrete terms.
Sunday dogs
Auggie keeping an eye on scary sea creature.
"The only people who are mad at you for speaking the truth are those who are living a lie." - Frida Kahlo
The only way out of this may be for Trump to fire Bondi and release everything, including whatever incriminates him. He's already survived grab-em-by-the-pussy, the verdict of liability for sexual abuse, 34 felonies for hush money paid because he had sex with a porn star while is wife was pregnant, etc. etc.
Everyone agrees he could "shoot someone on Fifth Avenue" and not lose a single vote. If he comes out looking bad in the Epstein files, so what? His cult -- including his evangelical "christian" pals -- will admire his "courage" for releasing it, forgive him (he was anointed by God, remember?), take another swig of Kool Aid and get back to the business of hating people with non-white skin.