Amanda Marcotte - "Still no Epstein files": MAGA conspiracy theory in crisis after victim's death

[Nevilledog]

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/30/still-no-epstein-files-after-virginia-giuffre-dies-maga-conspiracists-struggle-to-keep-the-faith/

It seemed as though QAnon was everywhere a few years ago, but in recent months, the name of this infamous Donald Trump-worshipping cult has faded from headlines. Sadly, it's not because they went away. Instead, the already-porous boundary between the mainstream GOP and the conspiracy cult has collapsed completely. Elected Republicans now spend taxpayer money hyping debunked conspiracy theories, while popular MAGA influencers keep up a steady stream of ever-stranger claims that mysterious forces run the world — and are, of course, out to get Trump.

The surest sign of the merger of QAnon and the larger GOP is the right's obsession with the Jeffrey Epstein case. At first blush, you'd think MAGA thought leaders would want to throw the story down the memory hole, since Trump was a close friend and a big fan of the deceased rapist. Instead, MAGA pundits and news outlets have become obsessed with finding the fictional "Epstein files," which they falsely believe will produce a "client list" kept by the infamous sex trafficker. QAnon is the key to understanding the MAGA fixation on Epstein.

The central QAnon belief is that a secret cabal of Satanic pedophilic Democrats runs much of the world and that Trump is prophesied to be a savior who will expose them all. They now hang their hopes on the belief that the mythical "Epstein files" will fulfill the prophecy. But even though Trump now controls the federal government and has appointed lickspittles to run the Justice Department (DOJ) and FBI, those "Epstein files" keep not showing up. The reason is that they don't exist.

Rather than level with the conspiracists and risk losing them forever, however, Trump and his team keep lying. Trump said they'd be here in "two weeks" — more than a month ago. Attorney General Pam Bondi gave them binders of "Epstein files," which proved to be the already-public information, because there isn't anything more. Then Trump released the classified files from John F. Kennedy's assassination, hoping to distract them, but no cigar.

*snip*

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. OR the "List" had the wrong people

I guess this puts me in the same category as conspiracy theorists, but it sure looks like a lot of GOP members are being blackmailed into loyalty.