On The Weeknight, Angelo Carusone discusses Trump’s inability to contain the fallout from the Epstein files

MICHAEL STEELE (CO-HOST): How do they sell that? Particularly when you have Trump today doing the hubba hubba, I didn’t know, I didn’t know, I was never there. Of course, he was never at Epstein Island. He had Mar-a-Lago. And we know victims who were, you know, a part of that storyline. So, how do they sell that?

ANGELO CARUSONE (GUEST): They don’t. And this is the significant thing to consider. You know, part of Trump’s ascent to power was that he ran on conspiracy theories. I mean, he organized power and built it on what used to be considered the fringes and the vehicle, the fuel for that, were all these conspiracy theories that he was tapping into and harnessing. Now, he’s running away from them, right? So, he’s not trying to sell it. He’s not trying to paper it over. He’s not trying to repackage it and give it back to people. And that’s the part that’s significant about all of this because those wheels are still spinning out there. You know, when I look at sort of the narrative, the larger information landscape, I think about it as rings. You have people that are diehards that are always engaged in the political swirl. But then if you go two or three rings out, that’s where you can really get a sense of whether or not the story is beginning to penetrate. What’s the vibe, what’s the general sense? 

And if you look three rings out right now, the Epstein class notion resonates. I mean, they are talking about the fact, you know, they’re still digging through the files. They’re trying to figure out whether or not Epstein, when he was talking about jerky, if he was actually using that as code for cannibalism. I mean, that is still churning at scale and tied into that is this idea that all these bad people did bad things and that the Trump and Trump administration are letting them get away with it. And more importantly, they’re not just letting them get away with it, they’re actively participating in the cover up. So, when Trump says things like today, that only reinforces that narrative that is out there spinning on itself. So, you know, Senator Ossoff says that comment about Epstein class, you know, it’s a cute talking point, but it actually is tapping into a sentiment and a sense that is fairly pervasive and is metastasizing all on its own.