The Double Standard - How MAGA Celebrates Conspiracies and Downplays Trump's Epstein Connection

For years, parts of the Republican base under Donald Trump have retreated into their own universe of rumors, exaggerations, and conspiracy myths. In that world, absurd stories like Pizzagate, alleged mass abortions after birth, or wild rumors about Haitians eating pets in the United States were considered indisputable truths. At the same time, serious questions about President Trump’s past and his connections to Jeffrey Epstein are brushed aside as if they were improper exaggerations. It is a double standard that not only shows how disinformation is politically exploited but also how dangerous selective distrust has become for democracy.

The Pizzagate lie is the prime example of the MAGA movement’s willingness to believe nonsense if it fits politically. In 2016, right-wing blogs and Twitter accounts spread the claim that Hillary Clinton was running a pedophile ring out of a Washington pizza restaurant. Armed followers believed the stories so much that they stormed the restaurant - only to find that it did not even have a basement. Nevertheless, the narrative persisted for a long time and fueled the idea of a Democratic establishment secretly abusing children. After that came the next wave of absurd claims: Republican activists began spreading the idea that schools were secretly operating on children to turn them into “transgender” on a large scale. In reality, the United States has clear medical and legal regulations, and surgeries on minors are extremely rare and strictly controlled. Still, protesters marched with “Child Mutilation” signs and were heard by influential politicians who used the myth for their purposes. Similarly grotesque was the campaign accusing Haitian migrants of mass eating of dogs and cats. A rumor that reflects nothing but racist resentment and was picked up by right-wing media to stir hostility against refugees and immigrants. As with Pizzagate, an emotional reaction is triggered - disgust, outrage - to justify political harshness against minorities.

In parallel, the narrative of alleged “abortions after birth” emerged. Conservative commentators and politicians spoke of doctors killing babies after delivery. In reality, there is no such procedure, no legal practice that even remotely matches this image. It is a deliberate distortion of medical exceptional situations in which severely ill or nonviable newborns are given palliative care. Yet in the MAGA public, the accusation is enough to send voters into moral panic. Against this backdrop, the refusal to seriously confront Donald Trump’s own dark sides feels like a political play. President Trump had close ties for years to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who ran a network for abusing minors. Photos, flight logs, eyewitness accounts - all show that Trump and Epstein knew each other well. While Trump now downplays any connection, public memory is full of episodes in which he himself boasted that Epstein “likes beautiful women just like I do, some of them even very young.”

What is particularly remarkable is that the Republican communications machine, which jumps at every baseless allegation against Democrats, suddenly shifts into appeasement mode here. Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida and later Trump defender, now attorney general, even reading this list is chilling, stands as a symbol of the protective wall Trump enjoys. During her tenure, the first investigation against Epstein in Florida was not pursued with the necessary severity. Later, she defended Trump publicly and used her legal authority to dismiss allegations against him as politically motivated. Figures like the far-right activist Laura Loomer also play a role by instantly dismissing any criticism of Trump as a conspiracy and injecting alternative facts into the public. This double standard is particularly stark when comparing reactions: While wild and completely baseless accusations against Hillary Clinton, migrants, or doctors are immediately believed and amplified, the very thought that Trump might be entangled in the Epstein complex is considered an “overreaction.” Even when the factual situation at least raises critical questions.

The strategy behind this selective outrage is obvious: Own supporters are mobilized with emotional campaigns, while uncomfortable realities about the leader are suppressed or ridiculed. The result is a political culture in which the truth no longer matters as long as the lie hits the right enemy. That this dynamic has solidified over years is not only a problem for the Republican Party but for American democracy as a whole. When a significant portion of the electorate is willing to believe any myth that demonizes the opponent but dismisses every damaging fact about its own side as “fake news,” the shared reality disintegrates. But without this shared reality, there can be no factual debate, no political accountability, and ultimately no effective protection against abuse of power. Trump’s history with Epstein may never be fully clarified, partly because the financier’s death and the questionable handling by authorities leave many questions open. But it remains a litmus test of whether a society is willing to face its own uncomfortable truths. As long as part of the public prefers to believe in Pizzagate rather than the obvious contradictions in the life of its idol, the double standard will persist - and political division will deepen further.

In the end, it is not just about Trump, Epstein, Pam Bondi, or Laura Loomer, but about the ability to distinguish reality from propaganda. Those who cannot or will not do so lose not only their trust in politics but also in democracy itself.

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