Haunting the Narrative: Epstein Files Spark MAGA Schism

July 21st, 2025
Brogan Jones

In works of fiction, “haunting the narrative” refers to a character whose presence is minimal—often due to death—but whose actions still significantly impact the story’s events and characters. In some stories, this may be the main characters’ deceased parents, as in Harry Potter. In others, it may be the villain’s former lover, as in The Hunger Games. In the story of the second Trump Administration, it is deceased multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

For those unfamiliar with the Epstein case, Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier and multimillionaire who made national headlines back in July 2019 when he was arrested and accused of running a child sex trafficking ring. Less than a month after his initial arrest, Epstein allegedly took his own life in his jail cell. While some thought that Epstein’s death might put the whole ordeal to rest, that was far from the truth. For years, there has been a consistent and passionate movement to release the Epstein files, an alleged list of rich and powerful clients connected with Epstein and the sex trafficking ring. This movement ultimately became intertwined with the QAnon movement, a right-wing MAGA group that believes Trump is "waging a war" against a cabal of rich and powerful pedophiles. By all accounts, calls to release the Epstein files have become a key part of the MAGA movement. It comes as no surprise, then, that Trump took advantage of this during his 2024 presidential campaign by making a promise to “declassify the Epstein files.” Because of this promise, it was shocking for Trump supporters when Trump did not follow through on it.

Mere days after Attorney General Pam Bondi brushed off questions relating to the Epstein files, the Justice Department released an official statement alleging that there was no Epstein client list. This instantly sparked chaos within MAGA, as many supporters of President Trump began adamantly criticizing his administration’s handling of the Epstein case. From Mike Pence and Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, to Laura Loomer and a majority of Trump supporters that were surveyed, Republicans have broken into a schism. Meanwhile, Democrats have been fanning the fires of the whole scandal, with Trump alleging that Republicans were being “used” by Democrats who were taking advantage of the party’s infighting. Trump even disavowed supporters who were still hung up on Epstein, referring to the client list as a “hoax.”

Unfortunately for the President, his outrage didn’t seem to stop members from both sides of the aisle from criticizing the Attorney General, the Justice Department and even Trump himself. Despite his annoyance with the situation, mounting public pressure ultimately led the President to order the Justice Department to call for the release of grand jury testimony in the Epstein case. While this seems to have satisfied some supporters, others remain critical of the administration’s handling of the files.

Amid all of this, the personal friendship between Trump and Epstein has crept its way back into the spotlight, making matters worse for the president. A Wall Street Journal exclusive exposed a “bawdy” letter sent by the future President to the financier for his 50th birthday. The letter seemed to indicate an even closer friendship than what had previously been alleged. In retaliation for the article, Trump sued Rupert Murdoch—owner of the Wall Street Journal—for defamation, with the billionaire business magnate responding in kind by telling the President to “bring it on.”

While the full grand jury testimony has yet to be made public, only time will tell whether or not the Epstein files debacle and the subsequent revelations about Trump’s friendship with the sex offender will be put to rest, or whether it will continue to haunt the narrative of Trump’s second term.

Extemp Analysis by: Brogan Jones

Question: How will the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files affect public approval?

AGD: I think this article gives a pretty good way to open up a speech about the Epstein files that is interesting, grabs attention, and toes the line pretty well between funny and serious. Connecting Epstein to this trope of “haunting the narrative” and giving examples of characters who have done that in the past is a pretty good way to open up the topic and talk about how Epstein will continue to haunt the narrative of Trump’s administration.

Background: Background is going to be pretty important here since it’s a fairly loaded question with a long history behind it. Here, I would establish two key things. First, explain who Jeffrey Epstein is, what the case was about, and how he died very briefly. Second, talk about the movement to declassify the Epstein files that has been raging on for years, and how it’s connected with the QAnon and MAGA movements. You really want to set up the fact that the people who care most about the Epstein files getting declassified are Trump supporters themselves.

Answer/SOS: If I got this question, my answer would be that the handling of the Epstein files will negatively affect public approval for three key reasons:

Both parties want the files declassified
It makes Trump seem like he goes back on his word
It highlights Trump’s former friendship with Epstein

Analysis + Concluding Thoughts

For the first point, I would emphasize how a lot of Republicans were the ones who felt disenfranchised by the administration’s handling of the files. Democrats are obviously going to disagree with nearly anything that Trump does, but what made this controversy affect public approval so negatively is that there was bipartisan outrage, which is becoming increasingly rare. As long as Trump still has the support of his base, then he has enough, but this issue specifically isolated his base. I would tie this back into the background of QAnon and how this has largely been a conservative talking point over the years. For the second point, I would talk about the campaign promise that Trump made, and how he leveraged the Epstein files as a criticism against the Biden administration, only to turn around and refuse to release them himself. I would go in-depth about how this negatively affects public trust and further isolates his base. Finally, for the third point, I would talk about how Trump’s former scandals have plagued him for years and have been a primary driver behind why a lot of Americans feel discontent with his personality. The article from the WSJ further pushes this narrative, highlighting Trump and Epstein’s friendship and making it the source of public discourse again. Between that and Trump’s rush to cover it up and sue Murdoch for defamation, you can see that even Trump himself doesn’t want this story gaining legitimacy because he knows it negatively affects public approval.