Epstein Fallout MAGA loyalty to the Test: Trump or the Movement

By Faith Barbara N Ruhinda Updated at 1350 EAT on Monday 14 July 2025

It’s Donald Trump versus MAGA.
In the days since his administration released a memo about Jeffrey Epstein that directly contradicts conspiracy theories promoted by the former president and some of his closest allies, Trump’s movement is in open revolt.

The backlash has exposed deep fractures between Trump loyalists and the broader MAGA base, many of whom see the memo as a betrayal.

Last week, the Justice Department and FBI released a memo concluding there was no evidence that Jeffrey Epstein kept a list of powerful men tied to his alleged sex trafficking network. The report also reaffirmed that Epstein died by suicide in his New York jail cell, not by murder.

But after years of hints, insinuations, and big promises to the president’s base, the memo landed with a thud producing no smoking gun and directly contradicting claims made by Trump and his inner circle.

The fallout has sparked infighting across MAGA world, turning allies against each other and deepening divisions within the movement.

With Trump now defending the findings, the moment has triggered an unprecedented loyalty test between the president and the movement he built.

Though Trump has long commanded near-total allegiance from his base, this marks one of the rare times the MAGA movement is openly diverging from its leader. The split may offer an early glimpse into how MAGA could evolve in a post-Trump era with or without him at the helm.

Tensions between the DOJ and FBI erupted Wednesday during an explosive meeting where FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, were confronted over allegations that they leaked a story claiming the FBI sought to release more information about Epstein but was blocked by the Justice Department.

Following the meeting, Dan Bongino told associates he was considering resignation and did not show up for work on Friday, leaving his status within the administration uncertain. When asked by reporters Sunday if Bongino was still FBI deputy director, Trump responded, “I think so,” but added that “he’s in good shape” after speaking with him earlier that day.

On Saturday, Patel took to social media to confirm he would remain with the Trump administration. Despite frequently amplifying Epstein conspiracy theories, Patel admitted in his post, “The conspiracy theories just aren’t true, never have been.”

Meanwhile, Attorney General Pamela Bondi who had promised repeatedly to release Epstein-related documents—has faced mounting frustration from MAGA supporters.

Though some expected her to be the administration’s scapegoat, Trump has firmly stood by Bondi.

He publicly backed her in a Saturday social media post and invited her to join him at Sunday’s FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey, where she sat in the president’s box as Trump gave her a thumbs-up.

The infighting has clearly caught the president off-guard, and Trump attempted to rein in his supporters and shield Bondi over the weekend.

“What’s going on with my boys and, in some cases, gals? They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Privately, the president has doubled down on his support for Bondi.

According to three sources familiar with the matter, Trump called some of the attorney general’s most vocal critics over the weekend in an effort to stem the fallout over the Epstein files. Members of his inner circle have also reached out to key critics, urging them to cool their attacks. For now, Bondi’s job is safe, they say.

The president has also fallen back on a familiar playbook, blaming Democrats: “Why didn’t these Radical Left Lunatics release the Epstein Files? If there was ANYTHING in there that could have hurt the MAGA Movement, why didn’t they use it?”

Trump went further, dismissing Epstein as “somebody that nobody cares about.”

But his remarks did little to satisfy many of his most vocal supporters, who repeatedly raised the issue at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit a high-profile event aimed at mobilizing young conservatives in Tampa, Florida.

Conservative political commentator Megyn Kelly didn’t hold back at the summit Friday, calling Attorney General Pamela Bondi the “villain in this story.” Kelly accused Bondi of repeatedly raising hopes about releasing Epstein-related documents without delivering.

“She’s never missed an opportunity to go on television and dangle sweet nothings that might be coming your way,” Kelly said. “Trying to lead you to believe she’s got it. It’s on her desk.

It’s coming tomorrow. You’re gonna see something on Epstein, and it was a tease. So you either believe that Pam Bondi was telling the truth then, or that she’s telling the truth now, but both cannot be true.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, issued a stark warning Saturday: “Pam, if you can’t do your job, we’ll find someone who will.”

While much of the criticism targeted Bondi, others placed blame on the administration more broadly.

“I don’t think they’re telling us the truth about Epstein,” said YouTuber and conservative commentator Brandon Tatum. “I think that guy was involved in something nefarious that implicates a whole lot of people. My guess is that a whole lot of those people may happen to be some of our allies.”

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon weighed in as well, calling Epstein “the key that picks the lock on so many things — not just individuals, but also institutions.”

At the summit, Fox News host Laura Ingraham surveyed the crowd, asking, “How many of you are satisfied you can clap satisfied with the result of the Epstein investigation?”

“There are two things President Trump lied about,” said Taylor Sharp. “One, that the Epstein files would come out — and they’re not out yet. They need to come out. The second is that we’re not tired of winning. He said we’d be tired of winning. We’re not tired of winning.”

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