MAGAworld really brought this whole "Epstein's list" headache upon themselves.
How, exactly?
Because they started obsessing. Not about the case as a whole, but rather very specifically about a very specific list that they claim existed.
They believed that Epstein actually kept what amounted to a literal guest list for his private island, which would in turn infer that anyone on that list would have either have participated in any sexual activities on that island or at the very least would have had knowledge of such activities.
They obsessed about the list. Talked constantly about the list. Everything was all about the list.
And who would be on the list? Well, obviously, it would be Democrats who were on the list. Democrats and left leaning celebrities. After all, they were the only people capable of deviancy and debauchery, so it would make perfect sense that only they would be on the list.
Not Donald Trump, of course. Even though he had once gone on the record calling Epstein his friend and talked about how he liked "younger" women.
But Bill Clinton, who in the early 2000s (before Epstein's crimes were known) accepted Epstein's offer of a plane to use for travel for his foundation (which was still in its infancy and did not have a plane of its own)? Well, clearly he had to be on the "list." Because he was a Democrat, after all.
Eventually, social media took over, and far right figures claimed to release what they insisted was this "list." Like this guy, for example:
Link to tweet
Of course, you had the Clintons. You had the Obamas. You had Joe Biden. All partying down at Epstein Island, they claimed.
You also had people like Tom Hanks, Drew Barrymore, Stephen Spielberg on this "list." Oh, and Seth Green--you know, Scotty Evil from the Austin Powers movies? He was on the list too!
List, list, list. It was all about the list.
That this "list" wasn't revealed during the first Trump presidency didn't seem to phase them. But when Biden took over, it became an obsession--Democrats were suppressing the "list"!
And it became a rallying cry for them. Once Trump got back into office, he was going to release this "list."
And the Trump campaign knew this was a big seller for the crowd. So they ran with it, and promised that, yes, they would release this list if Trump was elected.
Then Trump was elected, and the dog caught the car, so to speak.
The major problem being?
Well that there actually was no actual "list" at all.
There was an investigative file--depositions, interview transcripts, evidence. A big file. Huge. Thousands and thousands of pages, to be exact.
And within those thousands of pages there were plenty of names. The vast majority of those names probably being completely innocuous and incidental to Epstein's illicit activities.
And maybe just a few--an inconvenient few--who might have been not so innocent. Or at least embarrassing, if nothing more.
As in someone who had their photograph taken with Epstein on several occasions. Or called him his friend. Or talked about how he liked "younger" women.
But there was no actual "list". MAGA insisted for years there was a list and fantasized about the day that this list would be released, but sadly for them, this was impossible because there was no actual list. It was never that easy or straight forward. Thinking Epstein's crimes could all be rolled up into one tidy, simple "list" was always going to be a fantasy.
But now Trump (and by that virtue, Bondi, Patel and Bongino) are in a pickle. Because they promised a list, but there's no list to release.
They could make up a list--like all those geniuses on social media--but that would fall apart faster than a paper hat in a rainstorm.
So instead, they have to come out and do something that they absolutely hate to do: Tell the truth.
And the truth is that there is no actual singular "Epstein List" to speak of.
That's bad and angers the MAGA folk who for years insisted that there was a list and Trump was going to be the one to release it.
It's only compounded, however, by the fact that while there might be no list, there certainly is a file. And within that file, it could certainly be possible that there was at least a reference or two to Donald Trump that could be considered, well, less than flattering.
So all of a sudden, there's no list and the Epstein file is a now bad thing to focus on. Hence, Trump's freak out over social media. And MAGA's sudden ire at him.
All of this was an unforced error on MAGA's part, for years of fantasizing and building up the notion of a simple "Epstein List" that damns only Democrats and liberals, given that in the end, there was never such a list.
All I can say is...sucks for them.