WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress on Tuesday voted almost unanimously to release files on the late financier Jeffrey Epstein - a decision coming amid deepening fissures in the „Make America Great Again“ (MAGA) movement.
Donald Trump has been the de facto leader of the Republican Party for about a decade. Now, however, that coalition is beginning to crumble at a time when the President is being criticised for being indecisive and changing his position on the release of the Epstein dossier.
Trump promised to release the files during the campaign, then later tried to prevent their declassification, and in recent days has done a 180-degree turn and supported their release.
US media suggest that Trump's reversal was prompted by the fact that a significant number of Republican lawmakers were already preparing to vote in favour of releasing the dossier.
MAGA supporters despise Epstein because they believe he represents a system in which the rich and powerful are above the law. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial - officially a suicide.
„The Epstein dossier is a tough topic for MAGA because Trump supporters believe that government officials are covering up high-level improprieties,“ Darrell West told Xinhua.
„But at the same time, they don't want to admit that Trump may have been involved, even though he was friends with Epstein.“ West added.
Cracks are beginning to appear in the MAGA movement. Trump recently withdrew support from a conservative radical congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after she asked him why he opposed the release of Epstein's writings - Trump called her „traitor“.
Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua: „When Trump campaigned in 2024, he said he would be willing to release the Epstein dossier if he won... His voters voted for him with the full expectation that he would release the dossier.“
„The Epstein case is about extremely wealthy men who abuse underage girls... At the grassroots level of MAGA voters, I'd say more of them want the dossier released than not released,“ Ramsay said.
Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told Xinhua: „This is a topic where there are many true believers among MAGA supporters - people who were drawn to Trump in 2015 by his attacks on the culture of elite impunity and corruption.“
„So seeing Trump backpedal on the Epstein dossier may have shaken the faith of some of these people,“ Galdieri said.
In addition to the writings about Epstein, MAGA supporters are asking why Trump has recently taken actions that seemingly contradict his „America First“ agenda.
Some MAGA supporters expressed concern when Washington bombed Tehran in June, questioning whether the move was actually vital to U.S. national security.
Republican MP Thomas Massie co-sponsored a resolution to preventt „unauthorized hostilities“ Washington towards Tehran.
On CBS's „Face the Nation,“ Massie said there was no „no imminent threat to the United States“, that would justify attacks on Iran.
This comes after Trump's campaign promises last year to avoid wars not directly related to the defense of the United States.
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