The Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case has sent a wave of anger through the podcasting world that helped propel his 2024 victory. As President Donald Trump has dismissed “weaklings” who continue to talk about Epstein and declared, “I don’t want their support anymore,” hosts of right-leaning online shows — many of which served as important platforms for Trump’s campaign by hosting the president or Vice President JD Vance — have attacked the Trump Department of Justice’s findings as “bullshit” and warned he is “potentially destroying his entire base.”
Image via Flagrant
Research/Study
Right-leaning podcasters are turning on Trump over Jeffrey Epstein
Hosts on supposedly nonpolitical shows have responded with outrage to Trump’s dismissal of the Epstein case, warning he is “potentially destroying his entire base”
Written by Noah Dowe
Research contributions from Isabella Sherk & Jack Wheatley
Published
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The Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein case has divided the MAGA movement, frustrating right-wing hosts and their listeners alike
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- Donald Trump claimed he would declassify the Epstein files in an interview conducted prior to the 2024 election. He then hesitated, saying, “You don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would.” Trump had stoked conspiracy theories about the case since at least 2015, and even suggested that former President Bill Clinton killed Epstein in 2019. [Rolling Stone, 7/15/25]
- After Trump appointed Pam Bondi as attorney general, she suggested the Department of Justice was in possession of Epstein’s alleged client list and invited right-wing influencers to the White House to receive binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” Bondi responded to a question from Fox News about the Epstein “client list” in February by saying it was “sitting on my desk right now to review.” Trump also appointed Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, right-wing influencers who previously peddled conspiracy theories about Epstein, to lead the FBI. [NPR, 7/15/25; CBS News, 2/27/25; Forbes, 7/8/25]
- In early July, the DOJ issued a memo saying Epstein “committed suicide in his cell” and “systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’” The memo also claimed there was “no credible evidence” Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals, nor “evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” [Axios, 7/6/25]
- Right-wing media figures and callers have reacted with outrage to the Epstein memo, claiming the administration appeared to be involved in a “cover-up,” calling the report a “fumble,” and accusing Trump officials of “the ultimate betrayal.” Others pushed conspiracy theories that the “deep state” had already destroyed Epstein files. Fox News hosts, however, seemingly “followed President Donald Trump’s order to move on from coverage.” [Media Matters, 7/9/25, 7/16/25, 7/16/25]
- With Americans increasingly getting their news from online shows and influencers, Trump relied heavily on those spaces to promote his 2024 campaign. Media Matters reported in March, “Right-leaning online shows had at least 480.6 million total followers and subscribers — nearly five times as many as left-leaning.” These include shows that claim to focus on entertainment, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical categories, but which regularly discuss news and politics and hosted Trump and Vance prior to the election — including The Joe Rogan Experience, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, Flagrant, Impaulsive, and the Full Send Podcast. [Nielsen, accessed 7/17/25; Pew Research Center, 9/17/24; Media Matters, 3/14/25; Podchaser, accessed 7/17/25, 7/17/25]
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Right-leaning podcast hosts, including many who offered Trump a platform before the 2024 election, have now turned on him over the Epstein “cover-up”
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- Joe Rogan criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the case, saying, “They’ve got videotape and then all of a sudden they don’t, you know. … Why would they say there was thousands of hours of tapes of people doing horrible shit?” Recounting his June interview with FBI Director Kash Patel on his self-categorized comedy podcast, Rogan said, “You had the director of the FBI on this show saying there's no — if there was, nothing you're looking for is on those tapes. Like, what?” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 7/14/25; Apple Podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience, accessed 7/17/25]
- Podcaster Patrick Bet-David — whose show is self-categorized as a business program — called the Epstein memo and video release “the biggest fumble of the administration … so far in the first six months of being in office.” In the same episode, panelist Vincent Oshana agreed it was “one of the biggest … slaps in the face” and called on Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino to resign. Oshana later attacked Trump directly, saying, “I've lost not only friendships, I've lost family members I don't even talk to anymore because of this shit. And then you're going to come out and tell us, like, ‘I don't need your support. I don't need you.’ OK, have that attitude, and you're going to see it make these people lose.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 7/8/25, 7/17/25; Apple Podcasts, PBD Podcast, accessed 7/17/25]
- Flagrant podcast host Andrew Schulz said that the Trump administration is “insulting our intelligence” and “obviously … trying to cover up.” In a later episode of their self-categorized comedy show, Schulz and his co-hosts mocked Trump’s attacks on those who continued to talk about Epstein, with Schulz musing, “We ruined America. You know, we were trying to hold the person in power, President Trump, accountable for not fulfilling some of his promises. And that was foolish.” [YouTube, Flagrant, 7/10/25, 7/15/25; Apple Podcasts, Flagrant, accessed 7/17/25]
- Podcaster Russell Brand called for answers on the “missing minute” of the Epstein cell block video released by the DOJ, adding, “I expect more from the MAGA movement than ‘we’re better than the last lot.’” Brand complained, “We went from ‘I’ve got thousands of hours of footage’ … to ‘there ain’t no files, we ain’t seen nothing. There’s no list.’” [Rumble, Stay Free with Russell Brand, 7/8/25]
- Twitch streamer Zack Hoyt, who is known online as Asmongold, called Bondi’s defense of not releasing more information about Epstein “some real fucking bullshit” and suggested it was a “cover-up.” In a later stream, Hoyt agreed with a viewer who suggested it “seems like Trump is on the list at this point, the way he keeps saying it was made by leftists,” with the host adding, “Yeah, I think so too.” [YouTube, Asmongold TV, 7/8/25, 7/15/25]
- In an interview with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, podcaster Shawn Ryan warned Trump “is potentially destroying his entire base by just dismissing it and closing the case,” and said, “It’s made me rethink how I choose my leaders.” Prior to the 2024 election, Ryan hosted Trump on his show — which self-categorizes as focused on philosophy — and called it “the biggest interview of my entire life.” [YouTube, The Shawn Ryan Show, 7/14/25; Twitter/X, 8/26/24; Apple Podcasts, Shawn Ryan Show, accessed 7/17/25]
- Comedian Theo Von, whose podcast is self-categorized as comedy, responded to a clip from his own pre-election interview with JD Vance calling to release the Epstein files, commenting, “Yeah what changed?” During the interview, Vance said, “Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list. That is an important thing.” [Twitter/X, 7/16/25; Apple Podcasts, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, accessed 7/17/25]
- Podcasters Keith and Kevin Hodge, who go by “Hodgetwins,” accused Trump of “gaslighting the people that voted for him on Epstein” and attacked “Trump bootlickers” for being “quiet right now over the Epstein stuff,” calling them “fucking cowards.” They also promoted an episode of their podcast with a post reading, “Epstein Cover-Up, War with Iran, More Vaccines, Palantir surveillance… Is this the ‘Golden Age’ you were hoping for?” [Twitter/X, 7/16/25, 7/16/25, 7/11/25]