Trump Epstein Scandal Takes Brutal Turn as MAGA Slips into Tailspin

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2026

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, The New York Times confirmed the latest revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, reporting on the missing files that appear to involve charges against Donald Trump himself. The Times is treating this as a blockbuster story, digging in hard on the details in a way that will surely cause media scrutiny to intensify further. MAGA is all over the place on this. Fox News has mostly ignored the revelations, as Media Matters shows. One big MAGA influencer is hyping Hillary Clinton’s supposed role in the scandal, but that’s backfiring. Other MAGA types remain split. We talked to New Republic contributing editor Ana Marie Cox, who writes really well about Epstein and right wing elites. We discuss why the Times coverage is so brutal for Trump, why the saga is driving MAGA toward crackup, what all this says about right wing elites, and why the sun may soon set on Trumpism as a movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.2	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
1:02.5	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
1:15.8	This week, the New York Times confirmed the latest revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal,
1:21.2	reporting on the missing files that appear to involve charges against Donald Trump himself.
1:28.8	The Times is treating this as a blockbuster story and added some more nuance in a harsh turn in the saga for Trump.
1:36.7	MAGA is all over the place on this. Fox News has mostly ignored the revelations, and one big mega influencer is hyping Hillary Clinton's supposed role in the scandal, but that's backfiring.
1:42.9	Other MAGA types remain deeply split. This is really a
1:47.2	crack-up moment for MAGA that raises questions about the movement's future. And we're talking
1:52.1	about all this with writer Anna Marie Cox, who has written well for the New Republic about Epstein
1:56.8	and right-wing elites. Anna, nice to have you on. It's good to be on.
2:02.5	So the Times confirmed the big story of the week.
2:05.5	It's that the Epstein files, which are the documents related to federal investigations
2:09.8	and to Epstein's pedophilia and sex trafficking, are missing many pages that appear to involve
2:15.8	charges by a woman that alleged Trump assaulted
2:19.2	her as a teenager in the 1980s. The Times described the assault this woman alleges as a, quote,
2:25.7	violent and lurid encounter, adding, more than 50 pages of investigative materials related
	...

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