The unfolding drama between MAGA and President Donald Trump seems almost too absurd to be true, according to one analyst.
Trump is seeking to pull off a plot twist that most Hollywood writers would avoid, conservative columnist Charlie Sykes wrote in a recent Substack essay. Not only is Trump trying to distance himself from the Jeffrey Epstein case altogether, despite decades of evidence that he knew Epstein personally, but Trump is asking his base to see Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, as a victim instead of a criminal.
In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex trafficking charges.
'"For MAGA, this winter was always coming. It has been groomed for this moment," Sykes wrote.
Trump and his surrogates used conspiracy theories about Epstein and Maxwell for several years before Trump returned to the White House. He also promised his base that he would release the Epstein case files once he was elected, a promise that the president has since tried to back away from.
This is happening at a time when multiple media outlets are reporting new ties between Epstein and Trump, and the GOP is trying to fend off legislative efforts to make the files public.
Conservative influencers like Charlie Kirk appear to be testing out rationales for the president to pardon Maxwell in exchange for damaging testimony against his enemies, Sykes noted. He quoted a part of Kirk's recent show where he said pardoning Maxwell is "something that is worthy of praise, and worthy of our encouragement."
"If embracing a toxic international sex trafficker is now necessary to protect the cult, MAGA is ready," Sykes argued.