Don’t let Trump’s spotlight on Obama distract from the Epstein files | Opinion
There’s something magical about watching a legend perform the classics.
Billy Joel plays “Piano Man.” Paul McCartney rolls out “Let It Be.”
So it’s nice when President Donald Trump dusts off some of his greatest hits: attacking former President Barack Obama and shouting about stolen elections.
Sure, the Trump administration has tested some new material like calling predecessor Joe Biden “the worst, most incompetent, and senile president in our country’s history.” But let’s be honest. Nothing hits quite like yelling “Treason!” at Obama. Right?
Wrong. Americans aren’t stupid. They can spot a distraction a mile away.
Trump’s spotlight on Obama is political three-card monte: fast hands, loud talk and misdirection — all meant to bury the truth about Jeffrey Epstein — the connected, convicted sex offender who died awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges — and shift the focus from the Epstein files everyone wants to see.
Now we know why.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump this spring that his name appears in those files. Suddenly, Speaker Mike Johnson’s move Tuesday to cut short House business, block a vote to release the Epstein records and adjourn until September doesn’t just look cowardly. It reeks of a cover-up.
Look, Trump can coast on red meat and outrage. He doesn’t need to win new voters. He just needs to keep his base fired up. But when the Trump honeymoon ends, it’ll be Republican lawmakers answering for this dysfunction and chaos in Washington when they face voters next year in the mid-term elections.
History isn’t on the side of the GOP. Since 1950, the president’s party has lost an average of 24 House seats and three Senate seats in the midterm elections. This time, with a razor-thin 219-212 margin (and four vacancies) in the House and a three-seat edge in the Senate, it’s hard to see how Republicans hold both chambers in 2026 — especially in a nation this divided.
Making matters worse, Trump and his MAGA base seem to be more focused on taking out incumbent Republicans like Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, than on flipping seats held by Democrats. Add Elon Musk’s third-party flirtations into the mix, and the math gets even messier.
The bigger problem? Voters hate a bait-and-switch. And right now, Republicans in Congress sound nothing like the limited-government conservatives they pretend to be on the campaign trail.
Republicans will have to answer for enabling Trump as he pushes executive power to its breaking point. In just six months, he’s signed 171 executive orders — more than the 162 Biden (or his autopen) did in his entire four-year term.
The same GOP voices who once called Obama’s executive actions “unconstitutional” and a threat to the separation of powers are now cheering on Trump without a hint of hesitation.
Republicans on the campaign trail will have to explain why they voted for the president’s signature fiscally reckless “Big Beautiful Bill,” a monstrosity that explodes spending, deepens the deficit, piles on $4 trillion in new debt and speeds up the insolvency of Social Security and Medicare. They’ll brag about extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, but you can’t gut health care for working families and expect them to thank you at the ballot box.
And then there are the tariffs — a hidden tax that will crush American families.
Republicans will have to defend why they’ve embraced protectionist policies that raise prices, fuel inflation and punish consumers. Tariffs don’t promote prosperity, they suffocate it. Real growth comes from hard work, innovation and free enterprise — not top-down government interference disguised as patriotism.
The truth is, many Republican candidates may not even try to answer for any of this.
They’ll duck town halls, dodge accountability and wrap themselves in Trump’s image, hoping Democrats keep handing them easy villains by nominating socialist candidates like mayoral hopefuls Zohran Mamdani in New York City or Omar Fateh in Minneapolis.
That’s the whole playbook now: Deflect, distract and hope the opposition looks scarier.
If Democrats ever figure out how to stop setting themselves on fire, Republicans are going to be in serious trouble next year. Trump’s greatest hits might rile up the base, but they won’t win over swing voters. Most of them want serious leadership, real conservative ideas and solutions, not a cover band stuck playing the same tired old tune.
Matt Wylie is a South Carolina-based Republican political strategist and analyst with over 25 years of experience working on federal, state and local campaigns.
This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.