I must admit to being a bit perplexed at what Donald Trump is doing with the Epstein story. He went on Truth Social, the family’s vanity social network and corruption vehicle, today and again went off about how his own supporters are fools for not moving on from the Epstein story and how they should just — goshdarnit! — forget about it and move the F on! Trump seems to be demanding, for any of us who thought there was no there there in the Epstein material, that we realize there must be — that we believe there must be. He’s not asking my consent or yours. He’s just doing it. And this is what I mean: When Donald Trump is guilty as sin on something he insists that whatever is out there that you might have thought was incriminating is actually the work of Obama, Hillary and James Comey. And that is literally what he is doing. Here’s today update from Truth Social.
As I said, he is doing exactly what anyone would expect him to do if he knew whatever is in there is very, very bad for him, and he is doing it even though I had assumed that whatever was in there about him wouldn’t be that big of a deal. In fact, he’s continuing with it even as a decent number of MAGA notables have fallen in line and said that we should indeed move on.
The best explanation I’ve seen of this is that the guy is a one-trick pony — denial and saying he’s being framed are the only things he knows how to do and he isn’t subtle or canny enough to realize that some other expedient is called for in the current situation.
Like you, I’ve been at this Trump thing for way too long to let myself think this is the pivot where his magic wears off. But I’m kind of struggling to come up with another theory of what’s happening. I don’t think he’s going to be able to sell the idea that there’s some damning information out there but that it was created by Obama to frame him. I guess you could say, “Why, Josh? It’s worked again and again.” And that’s true. But he’s in charge. He’s got an Attorney General who will do whatever he asks. Why not release the proof about what Obama and Hillary did? But he’s going both with the “I was framed” story while the people who run his DOJ and FBI are saying they’ve looked at the materials and there’s nothing there.
As I was writing this, a friend texted me and asked, “Do you have any idea what’s going on here? I’m bewildered.” And I had to say, I’m just as bewildered.