When loyalty cracks: How the Epstein Case is shaking Trump's base

During his presidency, Trump has so far survived two impeachments, four criminal indictments, a conviction on 34 felony counts, multiple civil lawsuits, and court cases relating to the January 6th Capitol attack, the retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, and even one assassination attempt.

But according to U.S. media, including The Hill website, the Jeffrey Epstein case might prove different.

This time, the controversial president isn’t fighting just the media, Democrats, or the so-called “deep state.” He’s fighting for his own political survival. Even his loyal supporters, who backed him through the slogan “Make America Great Again” during scandals over hush-money payments to an actress, impeachments, indictments, and the Capitol riot, are now asking: Was Trump really involved in the Epstein case?

The cracks begin when even a president’s loyalists start calling him a liar.

The controversy around Trump’s alleged misconduct gained new traction when the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Epstein committed suicide in 2019 and found no list of famous individuals who were complicit in his child abuse crimes. Until then, many of Trump’s supporters believed Epstein was murdered and that such a list existed — a list Trump alone would reveal.

Trump’s reaction was to downplay Epstein’s significance, saying, “Let Pam Bondi, the prosecutor, do her job.”

The Hill wrote that this scandal is not a political spectacle for Trump but a reflection of his personal history now coming to light. His relationship with Epstein was not brief; they were familiar, intertwined, and shared similar excesses. Both were extremists, frequenters of elite circles, and participants in private parties. In fact, Epstein didn’t merely pass through Mar-a-Lago — he was practically part of the furniture there.

Trump claims to have severed ties with the convicted sex offender, but the evidence suggests otherwise. They were not just close; they knew how to quietly navigate and manipulate situations together.

The Hill noted: Trump’s usual survival tactics won’t work this time. He can’t just accuse the “fake news media” when the demands for answers are coming from within his own support base. He can’t deflect to his political opponents when the doubts are emerging from inside his own movement. He can’t cry “witch hunt” when he himself controls the Department of Justice.

Every other scandal during Trump’s presidency could be explained away as political or dismissed as partisan bickering. But the Epstein case operates in an entirely different moral universe. This is no longer about tax returns or classified documents; it concerns the sexual abuse of minors by powerful men who believe they are above the law.

Trump now faces a moral scandal he cannot tweet away, sue away, or dismiss as a political attack. The Epstein case speaks to a truth that even Trump cannot deny or divert public attention from.

Under increasing pressure, Trump on Friday filed a lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for the paper’s reporting on his connections with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced investor and convicted sex offender. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, seeks at least $10 billion in damages.