Epstein story a political reckoning for Trump, a moral reckoning for his backers | Opinion

The Jeffrey Epstein story may be Donald Trump’s political reckoning.

But it’s a moral reckoning for his most ardent supporters.

For the first time since Trump made his way down that golden escalator at his hotel to announce his candidacy for president in 2015, Trump supporters can’t hide. They can’t deflect, can’t blame the “lamestream media” or Trump’s political enemies, no matter how hard they try.

They can’t handwave what’s happening by comparing Trump to the worst behavior of men and women they don’t like.

They must choose loyalty to Trump — or to their own conscience. It’s as simple as that.

When Trump and his allies gleefully helped spread the Epstein story, they didn’t understand its power. They may have believed it was just more political red meat. But some of Trump’s core voters believed powerful men were getting away with raping young girls.

They believed the hated Biden administration was covering up those crimes, and that Trump would expose it all once they gave him the power of the presidency.

Now they know Trump has the power to shed more light on what happened, or is still happening, to protect the powerful after Epstein’s death. If Trump wanted most of the Epstein files to be released, they would have been released.

Trump’s supporters know he has had no problem breaching traditional political protocol when he wants, meaning he could order the Epstein files released today.

The Trump administration has asked a judge for permission to release grand jury transcripts, but that’s the president’s attempt to deflect. There are numerous Epstein files that can be made public without a judge’s order. Trump just sued The Wall Street Journal for reporting on a salacious letter he allegedly wrote to Epstein as a birthday president, yet another attempt to gaslight.

The problem for Trump is that at this point, the only thing that will satisfy his most concerned supporters is the confirmation of an Epstein client list that names the powerful men who allegedly raped girls, and a mass arrest.

Anything short of that will feel like gaslighting to the people who are following this closely. I often doubt the sincerity of Trump voters. In this case they can’t look away because they sincerely believe powerful men are getting away with child rape, and that it is imperative those men be brought to justice.

Trump supporters have excused or looked the other way at a long list of immoral behavior by Trump. When he bragged about casually sexually assaulting women, they brushed it off as locker room talk. When he was found liable of “sexual abuse” in a New York civil case, they simply didn’t believe his accuser. (New York law has since been updated to reflect that the actions a jury believed Trump committed would be legally considered rape today.)

They even ignored his past friendship with Epstein, including a woman’s claim Epstein once ushered her into Trump’s office, and Trump aggressively groped her. During Trump’s first term, he made a former federal prosecutor who in 2008 gave Epstein a slap on the wrist for his crimes a member of his Cabinet. Trump supporters have repeatedly turned a blind eye to Trump’s highly questionable behavior, always using a trapdoor of illogic to pretend they weren’t.

They can’t pretend this time. They have to choose their own conscience or Trump, especially given that the top reporters who forced the Epstein story onto the national stage, such as the Miami Herald’s Julie K. Brown, say though there may not be a formal “client list,” there’s good reason to believe there are powerful men yet to be brought to justice.

The Trump supporters I know have long seen this as a religious calling. They believe Trump was appointed by God himself. It’s the reason they believe they must support him. You don’t abandon God’s chosen when he’s under attack by enemies. It’s not a fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities.

Some Trump supporters are facing existential questions. If Trump refuses to fulfill his faithful duties to bust up a child trafficking ring, how can he really be God’s chosen? Were they wrong about him all along? If so, what else have they been wrong about?

That’s why the story won’t go away.

How it plays out will reveal much not only about Trump — but also about some of his most loyal supporters.