this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2025
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[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 156 points 1 day ago (6 children)

If the Epstein stuff is what finally brings down Trump, it would be peak irony. Its a low bar, but at least some of these MAGA ding dongs draw a line at diddling children.

I honestly thought there was no line for MAGA at this point.

[–] spencerwi@feddit.org 93 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

I mean, I don't think they do draw that line; 47% of Republicans would still vote for Trump even if Trump were implicated in Epstein's sex-trafficking activities – and those are just the ones who answered brazenly and honestly on the survey, to say nothing of those who say one thing in public and do another when nobody's looking.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 40 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Forty-seven percent of Republican respondents said such a revelation would not affect their vote, though based on other polling data this appears to reflect voter loyalty more than approval of the alleged actions.

Hate to tell ya MAGA, but voting for pedophiles is the same thing as approving of their actions.

[–] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 day ago

Hate to tell ya. They know.

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[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago (2 children)

There's still a billion-odd self-identified Catholics despite kiddy-diddling scandals and cover ups one after another. People are fine with criminals if they're their criminals.

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[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

That...and the other 53% of Republicans have no idea who Epstein is, or they are also implicated in the Epstein files.

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[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca 28 points 1 day ago (8 children)

If the Epstein stuff is what finally brings down Trump, it would be peak irony. Its a low bar, but at least some of these MAGA ding dongs draw a line at diddling children.

I have kind of tuned out of this iteration of the Epstein scandal. Why would it bring him down now? Is there really any new information? Everyone with a brain knew he was friends with Epstein and on the list. Americans voted him in twice anyways. Why does it suddenly matter now?

[–] chaogomu@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Trump campaigned on releasing the list, likely because Trump and Epstein ran competing human trafficking organizations.

Epstein had MC2 modeling, and Trump had T Management.

But both used the same recruiter in Eastern Europe.

There's likely more ties as well. But you can sort of see how Trump thought he was Scott Free on this one.

Now, prior to them opening up modeling agencies, Trump and Epstein had been thick as thieves, so there might also be old files that Epstein kept.

Anyway it all comes down to Trump literally running on releasing the files, and then quickly walking that back when he found out how many times he was mentioned.

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It's that "everyone with a brain" bit that's different now. Because you're right, nothing here is new. Trump and Epstein's ties have been pretty common knowledge to anyone not in the cult.

What's changed is that those inside the cult can't really ignore it anymore. They went from "the democrats are all pedophiles and the Epstein files prove it!" to "they have the Epstein files on their desks, they are just doing some final checks before they release them" to "there are no Epstein files, there never were any Epstein files, and if you think different you need to shut up.". Cognitive dissonance may be a powerful force, but "the Epstein files" have been the conspiracy bread and butter that's been holding this cult together for a while now. They were probably willing to bend on just about anything but that.

A lot of hay is made out of the fact that Trump managed to fuck up running a casino, and it’s true. In a business where the saying goes "the house always wins", it takes a special breed of incompetance to bankrupt the house. This feels very similar. Dude could have said that aliens stole the Epstein files, Q-anon folks would have bought it. Or better yet don't say anything at all. I think a lot of folks wouldn't have bat an eye if Trump's cronies were still "working on releasing the Epstein files" in 2028.

But he didn't do that. He made a huge song and dance about "releasing the Epstein files" then obviously canned it at the last minute. For the rabid conspiracy theoriests that comprise his base, the folks who were willing to invent an entire child trafficing code for pizzagate, that was probably the one manuver even he couldn't pull.

Will this mean anything in the long run? Well, I've kinda had my hope beaten out of me in that respect. But this does kinda feel different, I will say that.

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[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I honestly thought there was no line for MAGA at this point

Don't assume there is a line. Most of those MAGA numbskulls are armed to the teeth, yet neither Trump nor any of his less-well-protected henchmen are dead yet. So I guess kiddie stuff is mildly okay for the MAGA dumdums - or at least not really anything to get truly worked up over...

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[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago

The "good" news is that the reason most stuff never sticks is because most of his base (and the people as a whole...) never know about it. Yes, it is hard to miss if you at all pay attention to the news. How many people respond to a thread to complain about the paywall and ignore the article? Or actively reply without ever having read the article in the first place? Let alone the crowd who "prioritize their mental health" by ignoring everything anyway.

What makes the epstein shit special is that it has been the rallying cry of qanon, and much of the alt-right, for the better part of a decade. In a lot of ways, they are single issue voters with said issue being "god emperor trump is going to kill all the cheese pizza pedophiles in the epstein list".

And when your very identity is built around salivating over a list of who raped those kids and continue to receive irrefutable evidence that the man you put your faith in got his dick wet with those same child tears for decades?

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[–] Rhaxapopouetl@ttrpg.network 107 points 1 day ago (2 children)

tl;dr: Trump biographer Michael Wolff said : "[Trump] is going to sacrifice Ukraine for Epstein".

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 69 points 1 day ago

Trump's been trying to loot and scoot Ukraine since his first day in office. Far too late to pin this policy on Epstein.

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[–] NABDad@lemmy.world 69 points 1 day ago (7 children)
[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago

Just two buds, out on the town... Raping.

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[–] Lasherz12@lemmy.world 69 points 1 day ago (5 children)

What does a big thing even mean to someone enacting the American Nazi agenda? Invade Poland?

SHITZKRIEG BABY!🙃

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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 49 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Consider linking the original source instead:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-plotting-this-desperate-move-to-distract-from-epstein-wolff/

And putting the repost in the comment? It’s more direct and includes, among other things, official responses:

House. In response to questions from the Daily Beast Tuesday about Wolff’s reporting that Trump was willing to sacrifice Ukraine to distract from his Epstein crisis, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the Daily Beast: “Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s--- and has been proven to be a fraud. He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain.”

[–] ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 27 points 1 day ago (3 children)

God, every time I hear Steven Cheung open his mouth, I think of Baghdad Bob or a North Korean news broadcast. I know that's the point - he's just poisoning the well - but I don't get how anyone can listen to that response and think "Ok, that's a legitimate response from an adult."

[–] macncheese@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

One time I looked up Steven Cheung to see what he looked like and oh man that is a face...not even a mother would love. I once heard Margaret Cho say that he's so ugly, old Asian people would say he is bad luck. That got me good.

[–] archonet@lemy.lol 8 points 1 day ago

He looks perpetually like he got into a fight with a beehive and lost.

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[–] clif@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Quotes I highlighted from Wolff's book on trump's first term, most of them quotes from trump or people in his orbit that came up in interviews for the book.

“I don’t get it,” Trump said.

Of course the United States manufactured things, but reality did not match the vision in Trump’s mind.

“I just do,” Trump replied. “I’ve had these views for 30 years. That doesn’t mean they’re right,”

It was clear Trump had no clue what that was or who Porter was.

As far as Porter was concerned Navarro was a member of the Flat Earth Society on trade deficits, like the president himself.

No answers were forthcoming. But Trump soon forgot his questions.

“I don’t want to hear that,” Trump replied. “It’s all bullshit.”

Trump seemed not to comprehend the value and the necessity.

The president was speaking as if the U.S. military was a mercenary force for hire.

“He’s a fucking moron,” Tillerson said so everyone heard.

Cohn concluded that Trump was, in fact, going backwards.

It seems clear that many of the president’s senior advisers, especially those in the national security realm, are extremely concerned with his erratic nature, his relative ignorance, his inability to learn, as well as what they consider his dangerous views

"I can’t sit around and listen to this from the president. He’s just a moron.”

It was clearly Russian propaganda, McMaster said. He and the NSC and intelligence experts had concluded that. But the president had picked it up and shot it out.

Trump seemed not to remember his own decision because he did not ask about it. He had no list—in his mind or anywhere else—of tasks to complete.

“The president has zero psychological ability to recognize empathy or pity in any way.”

Trump had no understanding of how government functioned.

Trump liked signing. It meant he was doing things,

The president thought special assistant sounded a lot better, not realizing it was an even lower position.

Kelly said of the president, “He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in crazytown."

“Can we change the libel laws?” Trump asked

He had told the West Wing staff and even some on the Hill that the president didn’t understand what DACA was, that he was ignorant of both the policy and the mechanics.

The president can’t do this on his own, he’d told West Wing colleagues, because if he does it on his own, he’s going to screw it up.

“He’s a professional liar.”

“Mr. President, I cannot, as a lawyer, as an officer of the court, sit next to you and have you answer these questions when I full well know that you’re not really capable.”

He could not say what he knew was true: “You’re a fucking liar.” That was the problem.

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[–] Strider@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Ha, when you've already pulled so many crazy stories that it's not working anymore. Nice.

Also Epstein did not kill himself.

Release the Epstein files.

[–] bobbyguy@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago (3 children)

that bullet should have gone through his head, not his ear, we were two inches away from a better world

[–] Scrawny@reddthat.com 11 points 23 hours ago

It did. In one ear and out the other without hitting anything vital.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago (10 children)

no bullet went anywhere near his head

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[–] hume_lemmy@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Are you sure that would have even been fatal? He's not using anything up there.

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[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 32 points 1 day ago

Bye Bye Alaska.

[–] selkiesidhe@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 day ago

He's going to float the idea of giving Alaska to Russia, distracting people from the Epstein fiasco.

In other words: drumpf is a RAPIST and a PEDOPHILE

[–] plyth@feddit.org 27 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Everything is a distraction from the West giving up on liberty. It's not only the US.

tldr; new UK laws are extremly privacy invading requiering ID and face photos to acces any explicit material including sites like Wikipedia, similiar to some USA state laws and it looks like EU might just follow

https://feddit.org/post/17287420

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[–] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 26 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Release the Trump/Epstein files

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[–] VM_Abrantes@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago

Legitimately surprised that he hasn't staged another "assassination attempt", it worked so well for him last time.

[–] kyub@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"No one is above the law" and other jokes you can tell yourself to feel better.

[–] MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago

Can you tell me some of those jokes? I'd like to feel better.

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 19 points 12 hours ago (3 children)
[–] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 11 hours ago

Read this morning he wants to give Russia access to Alaska.

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[–] cmoney@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

The hell with Ring alarm bells, keep banging the ~~Epstien~~ tRumpstein drum!

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

I bet he’s sending troops to back up Russia

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 day ago

Release the trump/Epstein files!

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 12 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

How is this not the onion?

We live in clown world.

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[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 11 points 10 hours ago

My money is attacking Mexico without a declaration of war. Brown people are down there, it justifies the ICE budget, and other bullshit.

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 10 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I think Trump cares more about the Epstein files than his supporters do. He is actually the one making a big deall out of it.

I just don't get why.

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[–] Aggravationstation@feddit.uk 9 points 13 hours ago

I said war! Huh! Good god y'all.

What is it good for? Doing this probably.

Ok Donald. If you get Putin to leave Ukraine on Zelensky's terms, then maybe we can talk about something other than Epstein for 5 minutes. Maybe.

However, if you fuck over Ukraine, and then try to claim a victory for authoritarianism as a victory for peace (which you almost assuredly will) we double down on Epstein so fucking fast even JD Vance will start to regret betraying you to Rupert Murdoch before the midterms.

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