From Tucker to Bannon, Epstein scandal and 'Israel link' splits MAGA

Fractures within US President Donald Trump's MAGA support base are deepening over an alleged cover-up of the Epstein files, after the Department of Justice and the FBI concluded that there was no 'client list' and nothing suspicious about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's death.

Once keen to talk about the Epstein case, the president has now described sustained interest in the affair as "a desecration", urging Americans to focus on other issues.

The abrupt move has stirred discontent among the president's support base, who had expected the president to reveal a client list and video evidence — things that US Attorney General Pamela Bondi and other officials had promised to release.

Many prominent MAGA figures have spoken out, making their discontent known.

'Israeli agent'

Among the chief critics of the handling of the Epstein files is conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson.

Speaking last week at the 'Turning Point USA' summit in Florida, Carlson contended that Epstein, who was accused of running a blackmailing ring, was working on behalf of Israeli intelligence services.

"The real question is, why was he doing this, on whose behalf, and where did the money come from?” Carlson said.

“I think the real answer is Jeffrey Epstein was working on behalf of intel services, probably not American. And we have every right to ask, on whose behalf was he working?

“Now, no one’s allowed to say that the foreign government is Israel because we have been somehow cowed into thinking that’s naughty. There is nothing wrong with saying that. There is nothing hateful about saying that," Carlson said.

“There’s nothing anti-Semitic about saying that. There’s nothing even anti-Israel about saying that," he added. Carlson later alluded to the relationship between former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Epstein, with the former having met with the financier around 30 times between 2013 and 2017.

Carlson also took a shot at some of the pro-Israel voices who had backed Trump in 2024, including billionaire Bill Ackman, whom he suggested was connected to Epstein.

On social media, Ackman fired back at Carlson, amid a wider war of words between the two.

Carlson's remarks also caused a stir in Israel, where former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on X that the allegations were "categorically and totally false".

Consequences

Former White House aide Steve Bannon, meanwhile, has warned that the Republican party could pay a hefty price at the midterm elections over the Epstein affair.

“You’re going to lose 10 percent of the MAGA movement. If we lose 10 percent of the MAGA movement right now, we ain’t gonna … we’re gonna lose 40 seats in ’26," Bannon said on his 'War Room' podcast. "We’re gonna lose the president."

Others, meanwhile, have focused their anger at US Attorney Bondi, who now appears to have "overpromised" regarding the Epstein files.

On Saturday, Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna said: "Pam, if you can’t do your job, we’ll find someone who will."

Also taking aim at Bondi was former Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly, who called Bondi the "villain in this story", and accused the attorney general of dangling "sweet nothings that might be coming your way".

Trump, who has attempted to shift the conversation away from the Epstein case, acknowledged the infighting and took to social media to back Bondi.

"What’s going on with my boys and in some cases, gals? They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening," Trump wrote on Truth Social.