In Reply to: Dear Ms. Bondi, So there is a list after all...... posted by bluebellknoll on July 23, 2025 at 14:15:40
NYT: Polls show Republicans breaking with Trump over the Epstein files.
The Trump administration’s recent decision to backtrack on releasing new details about the investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has prompted something exceedingly rare: Republican voters have begun to break with the president.
Mr. Trump has long engendered unwavering loyalty from his followers, who tend to shrug off even his most extreme controversies.
But recent public polling suggests even such fervent support may have a limit. While 40 percent of Republicans approve of Mr. Trump’s handling of the release of the files on Mr. Epstein, more than a third of them — 36 percent — disapprove, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University. That is perhaps the most intraparty discontent Mr. Trump has experienced as president.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans overall disapprove of the Trump administration’s handling of the case, according to the Quinnipiac poll.
Indeed, the Epstein files have led to one of the most unified moments in recent political history. According to recent polling from CBS News and YouGov, nearly 90 percent of Americans — including 83 percent of Republicans — think the Department of Justice should release all the information it has regarding the case against Mr. Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial on charges that he had sex-trafficked teenage girls.
These polls were conducted largely before an article in The Wall Street Journal detailed a risqué drawing that Mr. Trump was said to have sent Mr. Epstein decades ago. That article seemed to quell an uprising within Mr. Trump’s base over his handling of the files, as he tapped into his supporters’ deep mistrust of the mainstream news media. There has been little high-quality polling since the article’s publication to assess its impact.
For years, Mr. Trump promised that, if re-elected, he would release government files offering more details about Mr. Epstein’s death — the subject of many conspiracy theories — as well as a list of high-profile clients who were said to have visited a private island owned by Mr. Epstein. Mr. Trump has previously used the Epstein case against his political opponents, suggesting without evidence that former President Bill Clinton may have visited Mr. Epstein’s island.
In promising to release the files, Mr. Trump was able to stress his anti-establishment message and his willingness to be more transparent than other politicians. He also pledged to declassify files related to major historical events like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. (Mr. Trump did order the release of documents about the assassinations this year.) His supporters rallied behind the idea that the president would expose an array of crimes against children committed by celebrities and political elites, including on Mr. Epstein’s island.
In retreating from his promise, Mr. Trump has earned the ire of voters from across the political spectrum. His Department of Justice ended its investigation into the Epstein case, declaring there was no secretive “client list” or evidence that Mr. Epstein’s death was anything other than a suicide, something many of Mr. Trump’s supporters — and the president himself — had questioned. Mr. Trump urged people to move on from the case, calling it “boring.”
Democrats have seized on the controversy, with members of Congress calling for the release of more Epstein files, and prominent voices, including Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, casting doubt on Mr. Trump and highlighting his connections to Mr. Epstein.
The president relented somewhat under the all-out pressure, authorizing Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury testimony in Mr. Epstein’s prosecution, though a federal judge in Florida on Wednesday denied a request to do that.
The incident has revealed a schism among Mr. Trump’s base, with anger over the Epstein files appearing more concentrated among the traditional Republican wing of the party. Republicans who do not identify as part of Mr. Trump’s MAGA movement were more likely to be dissatisfied with how the administration has handled the files, with nearly 60 percent saying they disapproved, according to the CBS poll. Among Republicans who identified as “MAGA,” 60 percent expressed satisfaction with how the case has been handled.
Early indications from the surveys suggest the divide within the Republican Party may not further dampen Mr. Trump’s approval ratings, which were already sagging. More than half of all Republicans said the Epstein case did not matter in their evaluation of Mr. Trump’s presidency, according to the CBS poll. And the president’s approval rating among Republicans remained largely unchanged.
The surveys also suggest that the discourse around the Epstein files may be limited to a vocal minority. Just 20 percent of voters said they were following the case closely, according to Quinnipiac, with Democrats more likely than Republicans to say they were paying close attention.