On MSNBC's Deadline: White House, Angelo Carusone points out that “there is no single center of gravity in the larger MAGA media”
Carusone on right-wing media calls for special counsel: “At its core, if you just take away the term, special counsel, what they're calling for is immediate, extrajudicial revenge against any and all entities that are part of the deep state”
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From the July 18, 2025, edition of MSNBC's Deadline: White House
NICOLLE WALLACE (HOST): This feels significant, Angelo, in that the base is done with Bondi. The base is done with Bondi. They want a special prosecutor because they view Bondi and her binder debacle as a breach of some sort. And I don't totally — you know, we're way down the rabbit hole. I've got my headlamp on and I'm trying to excavate who believes they're on the side of the truth. But in terms of where the heat is around this political scandal, there is now a heat ring around Bondi as well, who was accused by Megyn Kelly days ago of being part of what Megyn Kelly hypothesized was a Trump-directed cover up.
ANGELO CARUSONE (MEDIA MATTERS): Yeah. I think that and I think understanding why it is they're targeting Bondi and what they hope to get out of this is also key to sort of getting a sense of why it's at where it's at right now and where it's going to go.
Because, you know, part of it is that, you know, at least Trump's base, they're not mad or upset because they think he's a pedophile. They all knew he had some interaction with Jeffrey Epstein. The video, the picture of them together, that's not new information for them. They're not appalled by that on its face. They're not appalled by that association. What is driving their and would initiate it, what is driving their anger is that they hate the deep state, and they think the deep state has been out to get Donald Trump from day one. And anything that either is they can view as protecting the deep state or capitulating to the deep state or covering up for the deep state or just not being aggressive enough against the deep state is an obstacle that needs to go. So that is one big factor. So Pam Bondi, in a way, has that going against her. They see her now as somebody that is running cover for the deep state.
Two, you know, she did that meeting at the beginning of the year where she brought these influencers, not to the DOJ, but to the White House to give them binders about Epstein, to make good on one of Trump's promises out of the gate. So she became a face of of Trump's sort of half followed through with promise, and I think they hoped they would sweep that under the rug. That should be the first tell that they knew going into this, that that was a commitment that they made to a part of their media ecosystem, and they were trying to just check off that box and get it out of the way. But, unfortunately, for Bondi, she did become the face. So that's the second thing.
And then the third is, and it gets back to your point with Loomer, you know, you have -- and you say this sometimes and I love it because it's true — it's like you have tarantulas in a bowl. And you know, there is no single center of gravity in the larger MAGA media. You have these individual people that helped get Trump elected, that contributed to that, and we've seen these people wax and wane, whether it be Bannon or Musk or others. They all come in and out.
And Loomer has been out against Bondi because, remember, there have been a whole bunch of people who have been fired over the past few months that, you know, because of things that Loomer has put out there or pushed on. And her point is, Pam Bondi is not doing enough to protect the president. And so, therefore, and — look, all these people, I found all these deep staters that she didn't root out fast enough. So, she's been a driver as others, like Megyn Kelly. They're doing it to advance themselves, but they're also doing it because they don't think that Pam Bondi has demonstrated enough bloodlust. And that's the scary thing here. And that's the center of why they're calling for special counsel.
You know, Trump, obviously there's a lot of resistance to that broadly in the space because of how those things get out of control. But at its core, if you just take away the term, special counsel, what they're calling for is immediate, extrajudicial revenge against any and all entities that are part of the deep state, perceived to be part of the deep state, associated with the deep state. They're asking for an even wider dragnet and cleanse when they ask for a special counsel. And they just don't think that Pam Bondi has been a vigorous enough hammer of justice.
And those are the three factors that are sort of colliding around this Epstein stuff. And then you layer in all the conspiracies and kinetic energy and the Bongino and the Kash Patel of it all. That's it. That is why she's so much the fix of this, because they see her as a principal obstacle to getting, you know, to enacting their bloodlust and also helping Trump further smash the deep state.