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Molly Butler / Media Matters

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QAnon world roiled by Trump opposing releasing the Epstein files

The QAnon conspiracy theory was allegedly built to hold elite child predators accountable. As Trump dismisses the Epstein filings, many in QAnon world are trying to find a way to give him a pass — while only a few others are outraged.

Written by Alex Kaplan

Research contributions from Jack Wheatley

Published

Influencers in the QAnon conspiracy theory movement — which falsely asserts that a secret satanic pedophile cabal that included Jeffrey Epstein runs the world — are trying to explain away President Donald Trump’s efforts to deflect outrage following a Department of Justice and FBI memo reportedly concluding there is “no evidence” Epstein “kept a ‘client list’ or was murdered.”

Many of these QAnon influencers have speculated that there is “more to the story” and that Trump's actions are actually part of an elaborate and “brilliant” plot he is enacting against the supposed pedophile cabal. Additionally, some have indicated that they still trust Trump — who has repeatedly promoted QAnon over the years — and have lashed out at those criticizing him about Epstein, calling it “a loyalty test to see which Con Inc-ers turn against” Trump and saying that “Trump supporters are now aligning themselves with … Fake News narratives."

A smaller group of QAnon supporters, however, have criticized Trump for his comments about Epstein.

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  • Trump downplayed concerns about Jeffrey Epstein, calling them a “hoax” from “weaklings,” following the DOJ memo

    • On July 6, Axios reported, “President Trump's Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a ‘client list’ or was murdered.” Axios noted, “The findings represent the first time Trump's administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein's activities and his death.” Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Trump claimed he would declassify the Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi also previously suggested the Department of Justice was in possession of a client list and distributed binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” to right-wing influencers at the White House in February. [Axios, 7/6/25; Rolling Stone, 7/15/25; NPR, 7/15/25; CBS News, 2/27/25]
    • Following the memo’s release, Trump told his supporters to “not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein,” describing those within his party calling for the release of evidence surrounding Epstein as “stupid” and “foolish.” He also called the Epstein controversy a “hoax” and “bullshit,” and denounced supporters who demand more information on Epstein as “weaklings.” [NPR, 7/14/25; ABC, 7/16/25; CBS, 7/16/25]
    • Many other 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, however, obeyed Trump's call to stop talking about Epstein. [Media Matters, 7/9/25, 7/16/25; MSNBC, 7/16/25]

  • Some conspiracy theorists have claimed Trump’s actions are part of a larger plan against an alleged pedophile cabal and called it a “psyop”

    • Jacob Creech, known online as Clandestine, said Trump is “trying to tell us that there is more to the story that we don’t know” and those denouncing him are “pedo protectors.” Creech, who has reportedly “been following Q since 2018” and “repeatedly invoked ‘Q’ over the years,” claimed that “it seems Trump is suggesting the files have been doctored before he showed up in 2017,” and that “it makes sense why they cannot tell us everything right now and have to be so indirect/secretive.” He added that Trump “is trying to tell us the situation is complicated, there are things they cannot reveal yet, but the hunt is underway,” and to “let Trump do what he said he would do. He doesn’t operate on your timeline, and we don’t have all the information.” He later claimed that Trump’s “hoax” remark meant that “this hoax is targeted at Trump’s own supporters. Your minds are under attack. MAGA is under a psychological assault,” and that “anyone trying to sow discord amongst Trump’s support or divide his cabinet" is one of “the pedo protectors.” [Anti-Defamation League, 4/5/22; Twitter/X, 7/13/25, 7/16/25; Telegram, 7/16/25]
    • “The SCIF” claimed that Trump “WANTS CREDIBLE EPSTEIN INFO RELEASED” and urged people to “think bigger.” The SCIF, which has posted that “if it wasn’t for Q, most people would still have no clue how bad the child trafficking problem really is” and “Q brought it to light for you to unpackage,” wrote: “Listen to what Trump is saying. Do you really believe they would leave evidence for the Trump administration? Ask yourself what credible evidence to they really have? Remember, this started way before Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019.” The account also wrote: “Every Democrat demands the release of all Epstein information. No emotions. Logical moves only. This is the art of war.” [Twitter/X, 10/25/24, 7/16/25, 7/16/25]
    • Jordan Sather claimed that Trump may not “want us focused on” Epstein because “I would imagine there are ongoing investigations of the Epstein/Maxwell network or operations dismantling it, so it’s just not time to ‘release anything’ yet.” Sather, who The Daily Beast has described as a “prominent QAnon promoter,” wrote that Trump “has also made it very clear that you can't just ‘release a list’, because some names on the ‘lists’ may not be guilty of anything, and we can't have innocent lives destroyed by bloodthirsty hordes through guilt by association.” A few days later, Sather claimed Trump’s remarks on Epstein were the “Streisand Effect in action,” referring to a term for when an attempt to keep something quiet instead draws more attention to it. [The Daily Beast, 1/28/20; Twitter/X, 7/12/25, 7/15/25]
    • “Melissa Redpill,” who Political Research Associates reported has promoted “a specific weaving of Christian apocalyptic tradition with QAnon conspiracism,” claimed Trump “is using all of this and keeping it stirred up in the media to get the Streisand Effect in full force.” In the post, which also invoked the QAnon slogan WWG1WGA (or “where we go one, we go all”), she added: “What he’s saying is the FBI files are trash. You’re not going to find the truth in FBI files. That’s been purged. And what they want to do is they want to have the guilty escape and for the innocent to be held to an account. … He is not happy with these people who are … listening to the cabal and following their orders to get this – these fake FBI files brought to the front and using that for evil.” [Political Research Associates, 6/17/21; Twitter/X, 7/16/25]
    • Liz Crokin, who has promoted the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theories, wrote in response to someone claiming Trump made his Epstein remarks “to push Epstein back center stage”: “Ding! Ding! Ding!” [CNN, 12/7/22; Media Matters, 11/22/22; Twitter/X, 7/14/25]
    • Kate Buckley, known as “The Kate Awakening,” shared a post claiming Trump is downplaying Epstein to get the opposite outcome and “if you believe that [his remarks are earnest], then you have simply forgotten how Trump plays chess in order to make his opponents do what he wants. And it’s working phenomenally.” Buckley has appeared at QAnon-promoting events and co-founded a Rumble channel that has dedicated much of its programming to covering QAnon. Her post further claimed that “all of the people on the right who refused to talk about Epstein when all of the Anons were, are now screaming for the Epstein files. All of the people on the left who called us conspiracy theorists, including the pedophiles themselves, are now screaming for the Epstein files.” [Media Matters, 6/14/23; Daily Dot, 9/4/20; Wired, 7/8/21; Telegram, 7/15/25]
    • Podcast host David “Nino” Rodriguez, who The Daily Beast has described has “a vocal QAnon supporter”: “If you want all the ‘Normies’ and democrats screaming for the Epstein list, this is exactly how I would do it. In my opinion Trump is brilliant.” He also claimed that Trump’s post calling the Epstein controversy a hoax “has to be a trick play.” [The Daily Beast, 5/29/21; Twitter, 7/15/25, 7/16/25]
    • Shadow of Ezra, who the Daily Dot has described as “a prominent QAnon promoter,” replied to Nikki Haley’s call for the release of the Epstein Files: “Massive PSYOP going on at the moment.” [Daily Dot, 10/28/24; Telegram, 7/15/25]

  • Some conspiracy theorists have said that they simply trust Trump, even if they are unsure what’s happening with Epstein

    • “TheStormHasArrived”: “When Adam Schiff starts calling for Trump to release the Epstein files, something is obviously up. Trump knows what he is doing.” The account, TheStormHasArrived, has posted that it believed that “the Q op was coming directly from the Trump administration” and “it was to advance the awakening process - and it worked.” [Twitter/X, 1/30/24, 7/17/25]
    • Pepe Deluxe, who Vice has described as an “influential QAnon promoter,” posted on Trump and Epstein: “I don’t know the Boss's play,” but “I’m just obeying the Boss because he’s the best we’ve ever had and I support him 💯.” [Vice, 4/21/21; Twitter/X, 7/16/25]
    • Jon Herold, known as “Patel Patriot,” on Trump calling the Epstein files a hoax: “We aren't being honest with ourselves by thinking we know the full truth to any of these stories.” In a video from his podcast attached to the tweet, Harold speculated that the supposed files could be a “narrative weapon” against Trump. Herold gained prominence in the QAnon movement after the 2020 presidential election when he created a conspiracy theory known as “Devolution.” He later co-founded a Rumble channel that dedicated much of its programming to covering QAnon and has written that posts from Q “are legit.” [Media Matters, 6/14/23; Daily Dot, 11/23/21; Twitter/X, 7/16/25, 11/26/24]
    • Pepe Lives Matter, which reports have called a QAnon influencer and QAnon account, wrote that they “truly believe what Trump knows what he is doing” regarding Epstein. However, the account wrote that it seemed “like such a narrative catastrophe,” that they “could understand why many in MAGA feel upset,” and “shaming people for thinking for themselves or questioning things is not my way.” After Trump called on Bondi “to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony,” the account praised Trump, saying that the president was “essentially forcing the world to demand information about Epstein's occult island” and achieving “mass awakening.” [Twitter/X, 1/7/21; Newsweek, 4/12/21; Raw Story, 12/3/21; Telegram, 7/16/25, 7/17/25]

  • Some conspiracy theorists have defended Trump against MAGA supporters criticizing him

    • Jordan Sather wrote about Epstein, “Part of me is thinking Trump is running a loyalty test to see which Con Inc-ers turn against him,” referring to a segment of conservatives. [Twitter/X, 7/16/25]
    • Jeffrey Pedersen, known as “intheMatrixxx”: “Do you see what’s happening here? It’s ALL BULLSHIT! STOP HELPING THE DEEP STATE THAT CORRUPTED THE EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION.” The New York Times has described Petersen and his co-host Shady Groove as “two prominent QAnon influencers.” [The New York Times, 11/10/20; Twitter/X, 1/11/20, 7/13/25]
    • “Patri0tsareinContr0l” — an account which has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, such as sharing posts from Q on social media — posted, “We have reached a point in time where a chunk of Trump supporters are now aligning themselves with MSNBC and Fake News narratives about Trump and the Epstein ‘files.’” The account added that “this should set off MAJOR RED FLAGS that something else is going on here. What that is, I don’t know. But Trump is giving off plenty of signal that Democrats and the media are up to their dirty tricks again. So it’s pretty simple- who do you trust more: TRUMP or the Democrat/MSM propaganda machine?” [Twitter/X, 2/20/25, 7/16/25]
    • Jon Herold replied to right-wing host and activist Riley Gaines’ criticism of Trump: “Can anybody show me where Trump campaigned on releasing Epstein files?” [Twitter/X, 7/16/25]
    • Also in response to Gaines’ Trump criticism, MJTruth posted, “Trump most certainly DID NOT campaign on releasing the Epstein Files.” MJTruth has repeatedly posted the QAnon slogan WWG1WGA on social media. [Media Matters, 7/28/23; Twitter/X, 7/16/25; Telegram, accessed 7/25/23]
    • Account “patriot storm 17,” which has shared posts from Q on social media: “Never forget how mainstream just tried to psyop you guys into believing Trump (the first president to actually attack human child trafficking) was trying to protect pedos.” [Twitter/X, 12/4/23, 7/15/25]

  • Some conspiracy theorists have disagreed with Trump regarding Epstein

    • David “Nino” Rodriguez: “Just to be clear.. I DO NOT believe the Epstein list should be withheld from the public for some greater plan.” Added Rodriguez, “I believe children are our most sacred commodity. The real national security threat is letting child predators walk the streets.” However, he also wrote that “the way I feel about it and understand it are two different things.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Robert Cornero Jr., known online as “Neon Revolt”: “Let’s, for a second, take @realdonaldtrump at his word. The Epstein files are all corrupt and tampered with by these various Democrats and their underlings. WHY HASN'T HE ARRESTED A SINGLE ONE, THEN, YET??” He added: “He’s claiming to know they did this. He’s saying he has evidence of they all committed a FEDERAL CRIME. IF (and that's a big if) but IF that's the case - Why aren’t ANY of them in shackles right now?? Arrest Obama. Trump said he did it. Arrest him this very moment. And yet, he hasn't. Why?” Vice reported that Neon Revolt is “one of the most prominent QAnon influencers who has spread conspiracy theories and fomented violence among his hundreds of thousands of loyal followers on far-right social network Gab.” [Vice, 1/12/21; Gab, 7/16/25]
    • Enoch: “We are still going to talk about Epstein. If there is manufactured evidence, let's see it. If there is legit evidence, let's see it.” Enoch, who the Detroit Free Press described as “a QAnon conspiracy theorist,” added, “This elephant is not going to leave the room.” [Twitter/X, 5/16/21, 7/16/25, 7/17/25; Detroit Free Press, 1/10/21]

  • Trump has repeatedly promoted the QAnon movement

    • Trump defended the QAnon movement in 2020, and since then he has amplified posts with explicit QAnon content numerous times. A Media Matters review has found that Trump has amplified QAnon-promoting accounts on Truth Social over 1,000 times. [Media Matters, 12/31/20, 10/29/24; Bluesky, 5/14/25]