'Big freakout': Epstein scandal 'hits Trump where it hurts' — his 'precious MAGA base'

14 Jul 2025, 11:52 by https://www.facebook.com/17108852506 · AlterNet

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters upon his arrival at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

Alex Henderson
July 14, 2025 | 07:52AM ETBank

In a Saturday afternoon, July 12 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump aggressively defended U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi against her critics in MAGA World. Trump insisted that Bondi is doing a "FANTASTIC JOB" and did nothing wrong with her handling of alleged files on convicted billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

But those critics, from far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer to former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, aren't letting up on Bondi. And Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is threatening to resign if Bondi doesn't resign.

In a SubStack article posted on July 13, journalist and former CNN host Jim Acosta stresses that the MAGA infighting over Bondi and Epstein keeps growing increasingly bizarre.

"A strange thing has happened this summer in the world of Donald Trump," Acosta observes. "It's not the cruel and heartless ICE raids that have come back to haunt him. At least not yet. Nor has it been his brutally irresponsible budget bill that will saddle future generations with crushing debt. Nor the shameful January 6 pardons, the outrageous DOGE cuts and so on. As it turns out, it appears that it's his curious, decades-old relationship with Jeffrey Epstein that has blown up into the first major scandal of the Trump Administration."

Acosta continues, "Not your garden-variety scandal that lasts for a few days before he distracts the public with something else — this is not that. I'm talking about a scandal that hits Trump where it hurts: his precious MAGA base. I have seen Trump up close for years, and I think I know when he's worried about something. And believe me, he's definitely freaking out right now. Look no further than his Truth Social post from Saturday evening. It desperately attempts to provide cover for Attorney General Pam Bondi who has all but become MAGA persona non grata over her handling of the Epstein files."

Another "sign of this Trump freak out," according to Acosta, is his threat to "revoke the citizenship" of liberal actress Rosie O'Donnell — who is now living in the Republic of Ireland. O'Donnell is not a naturalized U.S. citizen, but rather, is a U.S. citizen from birth. Born in Commack, New York on March 21, 1962, the 63-year-old O'Donnell is the daughter of a Irish immigrant father and an Irish-American mother (who, like O'Donnell, was born and raised in the United States).

"Call it 'The Rosie Rule,'" Acosta comments. "Whenever Trump attacks O'Donnell, he's in trouble…. It's not Trump's 'enemies' in the press pushing this story. It's MAGA that wants to know what Trump may be hiding. As Trump might put it, 'IT'S THE HOTTEST STORY RIGHT NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter.'"

Read Jim Acosta's full SubStack article at this link.