Distraction is a fine art in politics. A strategy to evade accountability and avoid public scrutiny when denying or shifting blames is not possible. Donald Trump has been trying hard to distract. On Monday, the US President posted a morphed video of former US President Barack Obama being handcuffed by the FBI and later seen behind bars in orange prison clothes. Nothing new for Trump, who has in the past shared AI-generated content to target his opponents or rally up support for his causes. However, this time the timing of the post received more attention than its content.
Unfortunately, for Trump, the controversial post has not dimmed the ruckus and the noise over the infamous Epstein files. As the Epstein scandal continues to rock The White House and haunt Donald Trump, the public interest, scrutiny and calls for release of the files have all grown louder over the past few weeks.
During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to release the files related to Epstein and has lately faced mounting pressure even from his own supporters to do so. The issue was especially raked up by Trump's friend-turned-foe tech billionaire Elon Musk, who, last month, posted, “Time to drop the really big bomb. Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That’s the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day.”
The content, the controversy, the conspiracy theories
Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy American financier, at the centre of several conspiracy theories now, was known for his A-list social circle comprising the likes of Bill Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew and almost half of Hollywood. His first serious trouble with law came in 2006 after the parents of a 14-year-old girl told police that he had molested their daughter at his Florida residence. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to state felony charges of procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. Registered as a sex offender, Epstein was jailed for just under 13 months.
Also read: Trump orders release of Epstein files
In 2019, Epstein was arrested again in New York, this time on far serious charges of running a sex racket, trafficking dozens of teenage girls and engaging in sexual acts with them in exchange for money. Prosecutors said he worked with employees and associates and that’s how the steady supply of minor victims was ensured. Epstein pleaded not guilty to the charges. In August of 2019, while in custody awaiting trial, authorities informed that he was found dead in his prison cell after hanging himself. Ever since, his death has triggered far more speculation and conspiracy theories than even his life did. As the details of Epstein’s parties at his Manhattan mansion and Palm Beach Estate emerged, many skeletons tumbled out of the closet, as did several big names from the field of Hollywood and politics, making many speculate that Epstein may have been murdered in the prison cell.
In February of this year, the US Justice Department released a contact list of Jeffrey Epstein categorically stating that it was not, “a client list.” The list contained names of Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Naomi Campbell, Courtney Love, Robert F Kennedy Jr’s mother, Alec Baldwin, Ralph Fiennes, Dustin Hoffman, Ivana Trump, among others, highlighting how entrenched and well-connected Epstein was.
Also read: Trump ridicules Epstein file claims, calls believers ‘stupid’
Several US media outlets have reported on Trump’s relationship with Epstein, who allegedly were close friends in the 90s, partied together and were regularly seen at each other’s residences.
Dismissal of the Epstein files by Trump’s Justice Department
Has Trump been betting big on legal closure to the case? This month when the Justice Department and FBI announced that Epstein indeed committed suicide, did not blackmail any prominent figures and did not keep a “client list,” it did not resolve matters. Far from it. With MAGA loyal fan base among those outraged, the US media outlets has been digging out some fresh visual evidence highlighting the extent of their relationship. Epstein allegedly attended Trump’s wedding to Marla Maples in New York in 1993.
79-year-old Trump has been struggling to contain the uproar and outrage sparked by the FBI memo. Earlier this week, the President sued Dow Jones, News Corp, two Wall Street Journal reporters and owner Rupert Murdoch for libel and slander.
Is Trump ever releasing the files?
As for the AI-generated post on Barack Obama, this isn’t the first time that Trump has posted Deepfake content on his platform Truth Social. Earlier this year, the US President shared an AI-generated video of what the war-torn Gaza will look like under his administration.
Also read: Trump sues Murdoch, WSJ for $10bn over Epstein letter expose
Among the recent flurry of wide-ranging and potentially controversial posts, Trump also demanded that the Washington commanders reverse the team’s name change, reasoning that “there is a big clamouring for this.”
Several hours later, he followed up the post with, “My statement on Washington Redskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way,” further threatening to not facilitate a deal for the football team’s new stadium in Washington if the team did not change its name. Hilariously, in response to the post, former lawmaker Joe Walsh wrote, “Trump is scared to death of the Epstein Files.”
The Democrats, media outlets and even MAGA fanbase - the queue of people demanding answers keeps getting longer. Trump has a long and hostile political aisle to navigate through now and they are far too focussed to be distracted by a statement and post or two.
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