On MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, Angelo Carusone explains how Trump is pandering to QAnon as part of his Epstein media strategy

NICOLLE WALLACE (HOST): I mean, Angelo Carusone, therein lies the entire rawness of the political predicament. The victims themselves had hope, along with Joe Rogan, along with Andrew Schulz, and along with millions of people who voted for Donald Trump, that what Donald Trump campaigned on is what Donald Trump was actually going to do on this story, that he was going to rat out the men who had been protected, I guess, in the telling — in the government telling through sweetheart deals, the reporting bears that out. And we’re at the opposite end of what was promised. What is your sense of where the story stands right now in the eyes of Trump’s most ardent supporters?

ANGELO CARUSONE (MEDIA MATTERS PRESIDENT): Yeah, I think that’s a good point, because, you know, at its core, you know, there’s a lot of conspiracies and stories that get wrapped on top of it. But at its core, part of what Trump was tapping into when he even engaged on this issue as intensely as he did — and we shouldn’t discount the volume of intensity that he did engage on this very, very issue — is that the people cared. It’s hard to get mad at people for caring. Now, what they cared about, who they choose to blame, and the story that crept around was a lot of times really absurd. But they picked up on something very real and very intense, which was that people were hurt, children were hurt, young people were hurt, exploited, and powerful people got away with it, and that there was no accountability. 

And those two, were there not the only ingredients then, but those are two key ingredients in the story that Trump tapped into when he was promoting QAnon, when all these conspiracy theorists were using it and exploiting that to then advance their own, you know, target their own enemies. But they all believe those two things, which is part of where the energy came from. And the third thing, which is that, as a part of his larger drain the swamp, you know, push back against the deep state, sort of get in there and hold all these people to account, that they would finally get some accountability for this. 

And so it’s not just that, you know, he’s then going in there and not doing this thing. It’s kind of at this point, like doing it — and this is where it stands — it’s like kind of doing like arts and crafts with glitter. No matter how much you try to clean it up, it just keeps getting messier. And that’s what’s happening here, is that every time he tries to engage on this, do some kind of strategy, PR approach, something to distract, it only then takes what is already a very fractured landscape and makes these figures angry and talk to each other or talk about it more. 

So, here’s where it stands. Alex Jones, who is genuinely conspiratorial mindset and I think reflects one part of the wing, he does every day, he’s mad at somebody different. Some days he’s mad at Trump. You know, he’ll blame Trump and say he’s acting guilty, 18 days, this is too much, why is he acting like this? Today? He’s not blaming Trump today. Trump is a victim of the DOJ and the DOJ is hurting Donald Trump. So that’s one segment. And that’s, you know, he’s reflective of one core here. But at its end, they’re still talking about it. They’re still pushing it. They’re still saying there’s something there. 

There’s another segment, the newer people that Trump brought into the fold. These brocasts, these manosphere. They’re mad at Trump and they’re not tied into the political ecosystem, so the other part of the significance is that, not only are they basically saying, ‘Trump didn’t do what he did, you shouldn’t trust him anymore,’ but their other criticisms of Trump have all ramped up. So now they’re criticizing him on the economy, criticizing him more on immigration. They’re weaving in their own complaints. Asmongold, I think, is a good example of this. A video game streamer, he’s even gone further. He, again, supported Trump last cycle, got pulled in, said, ‘This is so important, because this could mean Trump is compromised,’ right? So that’s what he’s telling his audience. So there’s this segment that is increasing their attacks on Trump. 

And then you sort of have the standard right-wing media, which is trying to hold the line and defend Trump by pushing his distractions. And then Trump himself, I think his behavior in the last 24 hours is significant. He has promoted QAnon accounts on his Truth Social account 14 times today alone. That’s an old standby. And part of the reason he’s doing that is because he knows that audience segment is really going to determine, at least steer where this is going. And what he’s trying to get those QAnon people to believe is that somehow he’s playing fifth dimensional chess and that there’s something he’s going to do. He’s going to give them accountability soon. They just have to stick with him a little bit longer. 

So it’s still simmering, and every once in a while it will boil over. But the net effect of it is that it’s not going to go away, and it’s actually only going to increase and incentivize more criticisms and attacks on him.