A number of recent surveys show that Republican voters are become increasingly divided by the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, which has prompted strong criticism from prominent members of the MAGA movement.
In recent weeks, Trump and senior administration officials reversed their stance after hyped up the release of the Epstein papers, which conspiracy theorists had claimed contained evidence implicating the world’s elite on a “client list.” Outcry from Epstein’s MAGA following ensued when the FBI and DOJ published a report last week stating that no such list exists and that he committed suicide while incarcerated in 2019.
Republican views on the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files were mixed in a Wednesday Quinnipiac survey; 40% approved, 36% disagreed, and 24% did not provide an opinion.
Three-quarters of GOP voters approved, while a quarter disapproved, and the remaining respondents were either undecided or didn’t respond at all, according to a Thursday Reuters/Ipsos survey.
Furthermore, Trump’s handling of the Epstein issue has been met with widespread disapproval among Americans. The Quinnipiac survey found that just 17% of people were in favor of the way the administration dealt with the Epstein files, while 63% were against it and 20% were unsure.
Similarly, 17% of those who took part in the Reuters/Ipsos survey said they were satisfied with Trump’s response to the crisis. In addition, a CNN/SSRS survey conducted on Tuesday found that just 3% of Americans were OK with the level of information the government has disclosed regarding the case so far.
Conservatives and moderates within the Republican Party seem to be growing apart over the Epstein files.
Describes oneself as extremely traditionalist More Republicans and independents leaning toward Republican were dissatisfied with the way the administration handled the issue than those who identified as somewhat conservative. Specifically, 48% of Republicans and 41% of Republican-leaning independents were unhappy, compared to 40% of moderate conservatives, according to the CNN/SSRS survey.
Many far-right internet activists and pundits who have long held conspiracy theories about the government’s involvement with Epstein have grown louder in their criticism of the administration’s handling of the case.
The president was compelled to minimize the entire matter after last week’s anticlimactic joint FBI-DOJ report prompted an immediate pushback from MAGA advocates and caused Trump loyalists, who had been demanding a spectacular revelation, to begin to split.
On Wednesday, Trump took to Truth Social to address the controversy surrounding the Epstein files. In a lengthy post, he attacked his own supporters, saying that they have fallen for the Democrats’ “new SCAM,’ which we will forever refer to as the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ completely.”
Some of Trump’s followers still can’t seem to shake the Epstein tale, even though he has tried to brush it off as a “hoax” orchestrated by Democrats.
According to far-right activist Laura Loomer, who spoke to AWN on Wednesday, the Epstein scandal might “consume his presidency” unless Trump takes immediate action.
“Clearly, this is not a total fabrication considering that Ghislaine Maxwell is presently incarcerated in Florida for her transgressions and involvements with Jeffrey Epstein, whom we are aware of as a convicted sexual predator,” Loomer stated.
Trump has also always supported Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has endured heavy criticism for how her department handled the Epstein files and for trying Florida avoid answering questions on the issue.
In his remarks on Wednesday from the Oval Office, Trump praised her work. According to her, I provided you with all the reliable information, and she promises to provide further information if she discovers any. Could she possibly go beyond that?
However, Bondi, along with FBI Directors Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, do not have a very positive reputation among Americans. Quinnipiac University found that 32% of people were in favor of Bondi, while 53% were against her and 15% were unsure. The approval rates for Patel and Bongino were 36% and 34%, correspondingly.
While 41% of respondents felt Bongino’s work was lacking and 26% were unsure, 47% of those who took the survey felt the same way about Patel’s work so far, and 17% had no opinion either way.
There were three separate polls conducted by different organizations on July: one by Quinnipiac from July 10–14 (with a margin of error of +/–2.7 percentage points), another by Reuters/Ipsos from July 14–15 (with a margin of error of about 3 percentage points), and finally by CNN/SSRS from July 10–13 (with a margin of error of +/–3.5 percentage points). The margin of error is larger for answers given by smaller subgroups.
