cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/11393
Just over one year after winning the 2024 election, Donald Trump’s presidency is under severe pressure. The sordid scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein is a totemic symbol of this. This one horrifying story has come to be associated with both the hopes and the mounting disappointment in Donald Trump.
For some time, this tough-talking chancer was able to pose as an opponent of the status quo. However, because Trump has not dealt with any of the problems of working-class Americans, he is now losing his popularity. This has not meant a revival of the liberal centre-ground, however, nor the tightening hold of ‘conspiracy theories’ on US minds. It is the latest stage of the development of the consciousness of a layer of the American working class.
In the minds of a layer of the American population, a generalised distrust and hatred of the status quo and those who defend it has become embodied in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. One perceptive New York Times article explains that, whilst Epstein’s contacts seemed to be on opposing sides (the conservative Steve Bannon and the liberal Michael Wolff, for example), they are actually “on the same team. On air, they might clash. They tout opposite policies… But the emails depict a group whose highest commitment is to their own permanence in the class that decides things.”
And, indeed, the Epstein files have proven that there is a tight-knit group that runs society, that protects its members, and that regularly engages in conspiracies against ordinary Americans. That Trump has been seen to be engaging in a cover up has clicked something into place for many. It is as if to say, ‘of course he has betrayed his promises, of course conditions are getting worse. He is one of them, he is part of the “Epstein class”’. And, indeed, he is.
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