The Daily Blast: Trump Epstein Mess Worsens as MAGA Cracks Up: “He Lame-Ducked Himself”

The DSR Network

Chris Cotnoir

Government

4.5 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Former attorney general Pam Bondi testified behind closed doors Friday about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. She effectively let it be known that Todd Blanche, now acting AG, has been responsible for this debacle, creating a new inquiry for Democrats to pursue that will be fraught for Trump. Bondi also went mum on how Trump instructed her to handle the Epstein files, basically declining to back Trump’s spin that he was pro-transparency, raising still more questions for Democrats to pursue. Meanwhile, Trump’s sinking approval, Iran debacle, ballroom and slush fund are fracturing Trumpworld and the GOP: One Republican told The Atlantic that he has “lame-ducked himself.” We talked to historian Nicole Hemmer, author of several books about the right. We discuss why the Epstein scandal continues to fracture the MAGA movement, the deeper reasons for Trump’s weakening hold on the GOP, and why MAGA will go into deep turmoil once Trump passes from the scene. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Some follow the noise.
0:03.0	Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion
0:07.7	dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story.
0:13.5	Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.
0:18.2	Changes in sexual performance are more common than most people realize and support doesn't need to feel awkward
0:23.7	with medexpress everything happens privately online start by completing a short consultation reviewed by
0:29.9	UK registered clinicians if eligible treatment is delivered discreetly to your home with ongoing support
0:35.9	whenever you need it you're not alone in this.
0:38.7	Visit medexpress.co.com.uk slash podcast to learn more.
0:52.8	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:58.9	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
1:04.7	On Friday, former Attorney General Pam Bondi testified to lawmakers behind closed doors about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
1:18.3	What Democrats said afterwards strongly suggests that this mess is not going away for Donald Trump,
1:24.5	and very likely will get worse next year if Democrats take back the House.
1:30.0	This comes amid other signs that the Republican lines of defense around Trump are crumbling on many
1:35.3	fronts. And Trump himself may be to blame because it's his mounting on popularity that's
1:41.4	driving it all. As one Republican put it, Trump is lane ducking himself.
1:48.2	We're talking about all this with historian Nicole Hemmer, who's one of our go-to people on Epstein
1:53.1	on the right wing, a topic she's written several books about. Nicole, always nice to have you on.
1:59.0	Lovely to be back, Greg.
2:08.3	So Pam Bondi, the former AG, was on Capitol Hill as part of the House's ongoing investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein files,
2:14.3	which are the investigative materials gathered as part of DOJ's probe of Epstein's sex trafficking.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 21 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Chris Cotnoir, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Chris Cotnoir and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.