The Preponderance of the Trumpness
Thinking about how what is known about Trump and Epstein.
Let me state from the outset that there are really only three options as it pertains to Trump’s association with Epstein.
- Trump was sufficiently dense not to know what was going on right in front of him.
- Trump knew that Epstein was having sex with underage girls and trafficking them, but he just didn’t care enough to tell authorities or to do much of anything about it.
- He was a participant in it all.
I think that there is enough in the public record to suggest that #1 is not a viable option. I would submit that either #2 or #3 makes Trump unfit for office and should be enough to cause any number of voters to shun him and anyone associated with him (granted, due to partisan rationalization, that number will not be as large as it should be).
I think that it matters that we, as a country, come to terms with the kind of person Trump is. Granted, I could make a list of reasons he is unfit for office (and, indeed, do so on a regular basis), but as this Epstein business roils on, I can’t help but think about how almost any reasonable person would react to the following if they read it in a book outside of the context of partisan politics.
It seems relevant to be reminded that we know that Jeffrey Epstein engaged in the sexual abuse of over 1,000 girls, some as young as 14 years of age. And we know that he and Trump were friends for many years, but had a falling out in the 2004-2007 period, over issues such as Epstein poaching a Mar-a-Lago employee, harassing a member’s teenage daughter, and/or a contest over buying a specific Florida property.
Let’s approach it like this. Let’s say you were reading a history book and there was a chapter on Jeffry Epstein and his friend Anton Orangeman. The chapter detailed Epstein’s plea deal linked to him having sex with 14-year-old girls, his later indictment, and the conviction of his close associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, over her role in procuring girls for Epstein (as well as participating in the abuse). The chapter quite clearly spells out the crimes of which Epstein was associated, even if, between the plea deal and his later suicide, he was never fully prosecuted for them all.
The chapter then goes on to detail the following about A. Organgeman.
- Orangeman was a known philanderer, having been documented to have cheated on all three of his wives (to include one case wherein he paid hush money to a porn star he slept with).
- He famously said that famous persons, like himself, could do whatever they wanted with women they encountered, including just kissing them, or, in fact, grabbing them “by the pussy.”
- He was found liable in court for just that exact kind of behavior.
- At least 26 women have publicly accused Orangeman of sexual abuse.
- He once commented that he hoped his infant daughter would have large breasts.
- He once commented that if his daughter weren’t his daughter, he might be dating her. (See also additional reported comments here.)
- Once, he told a radio host that it was okay to call his daughter “a piece of ass.“
- Once, in response to a question about what he had in common with his daughter, he stated, on television, “Well, I was going to say sex, but I can’t relate that to her.”
- Orangeman was documented to have walked into the dressing room of the Miss Teen USA contest, where girls were in various states of undress.
- He told New York Magazine in 2002, the following: “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy.” […] “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
- Photos abound of Orangeman and Epstein having fun at parties (some examples).
- He wrote a provocative birthday note to Epstein.
- Orangeman fought efforts to release information about Epstein until it became evident that he wasn’t going to be able to stop it.
Any reasonably-minded individual who reads this list of facts would have to come to the conclusion that, at the barest minimum that Orangeman was a misogynist with an unhealthy relationship to sex. And, further, as a person who was friends with Epstein, seen partying with Epstein, had to have known what Epstein was doing, and that the odds that he also participated would have to be pretty high.
And so, since that list is obviously about Trump, this is the conclusion that I think has to be reached.
If Trump were a known abuser of substances, even if just legal ones, and he hung around with a known drug dealer for decades, would anyone seriously think that Trump never partook of his friend’s wares?
This is all off the top of my head–I suspect I could easily lengthen the list. It does not include the recent Epstein e-mails that note that Trump knew “about the girls” and that add to the general preponderance of evidence that Trump was involved in some way.
I know that Trump is almost certainly not going to face a criminal trial over any of this. But I think that people need to understand who it is that they, and the party they ostensibly trust, supported.
I agree it matters that we, as a country, come to terms on Trump. But, perhaps we, as a country, already have.
Consider your 3 options redirected:
1). Trump voters and Republican supporters were sufficiently dense not to know what was going on right in front of them.
2). Trump voters and Republican supporters knew that Trump was an adjudicated rapist, let alone a convicted felon, twice impeached insurrectionist, wannabe authoritarian dictator, and overall vile man, yet they just didn’t care enough to pull the lever for Kamala Harris.
3). Trump voters and Republican supporters are okay with it all.
As with your options, I have a hard term finding Option 1 plausible – at least to the extent to explain Trump winning a plurality. Options 2 & 3 are damning for a slim majority of American voters.
In addition to seeing what is in front of our noses with Trump (and thanks again for your work there), I think it matters that we, as a country, come to terms with the kind of people that have taken hold of the right wing of our electorate and far too many in the middle.
Remember when Mike Johnson claimed that Trump was working undercover with the FBI? It lasted under a day, but what a day it was.
I’m sure we will find far more options than the three you have come up with. Terrible, stupid options that will appear and float about for a moment before fading away.
lt still boggles my mind that Obama was criticized for paling around with a terrorist. A man Obama met well after he had served his jail term and with whom he attended some meetings. OTOH, Trump was a close friend to someone for 10-15 years while they were engaged in their criminal acts. Anyway, I agree with Scott. Trump voters dont care and will find a way to rationalize whatever is found out. We already pretty much knew he was at least aware of what was going on. The cult rule is that Trump cannot fail, he can only be failed so nothing will change.
As an aside my guess is that Trump gave in now rather than prolong things so this can blow over in time for the midterms. Gives, Fox, OAN and the radio talkers time to explain how this is all just a liberal conspiracy and Trump remains a saint.
Steve
Hehe. Had to doublecheck the byline, for a minute I thought I wrote this post.
Gonna be a long time before Americans’ moral and intellectual reputation recovers from being so gullible and sexist we elected a Putin-puppet pedophile (who incited a terror attack on Congress) over Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris.
@steve222: It boggles my mind that we elected someone of Trump’s character, which was, IMO, best revealed in his Trump Foundation scam.
A billionaire raiding a charity jar to line his own pocket is as bad as it gets. 99.9 percent of people shouldn’t tolerate that and, unlike all the sex stuff, there is clear undeniable evidence.
FOX News et al did an excellent job and convincing a majority, albeit a slight majority, of Americans there is nothing on heaven and earth worse than a Democrat. Have to hand it to those guys, but they may find they did such a good job it placed Trump in charge. A person so disgusting the project will ultimately be hoisted by it’s own petard.
To the circumstantial evidence listed could be added these points:
• When asked for his reaction to Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction, he said he “wished her well”.
• His Deputy Attorney General spent several hours visiting Maxwell earlier this year, following which she was moved to a minimum-security prison in another state and afforded very unusual privileges. Possibly not coincidentally, the Deputy AG released a statement that she’d never seen Trump do anything untoward with any women.
The motivations underlying Trump support — whether it be cult like, strategic, or uncomfortable — are over-determined and dynamic.
In trying to understand this, we must appreciate just how strong the “can vs. must I believe X” factor is. Motivated reasoning is so much more (and more powerful) than merely seeing what one wants to see.
Relatedly, our tendency/willingness to think abstractly vs. specifically is largely dictated by context. This is especially the case when people are the things being considered. Re the Epstein victims, for Trump supporters, it’s “easier” to only think of them as abstractions… and to hardly think of them at all (see below).
Even if one is otherwise concerned (Susan Collins emoji) about these victims, if one’s media diet offers 99 parts squirrel to 1 part victims, then the brain is gonna do what the brain does… and it ain’t to focus on victims.
Furthermore, moral relativism has a place in all of us, with individual differences in how sizeable that place is. But it’s not so much the size (in this case) that matters, but rather the selective deployment. And there has been a lot of selective deployment when considering Trump’s behavior over the years, especially from people who otherwise espouse moral absolutism.
@Mimai: Excellent points.
I don’t think he cares for anything in the world except power. Everything else in his life is just service to that one thing. I would hazard that teenage girls were an easy, mess-free way of exercising that power. They don’t have much agency and can be readily manipulated. All of which is desperately sad. )-:
“See, everything is sex
Except sex, which is power
You know power is just sex
You screw me and I’ll screw you too
Everything is sex
Except sex, which is power
You know power is just sex
Now ask yourself who’s screwin’ you”
-Janelle Monae