How both sides handled the Epstein emails
The content output was high — but not aimed at the places you might expect.
The idea of justice is all-consuming for me right now.
And sure, that’s partially due to the seemingly endless twists of the Epstein saga — and exponential theories of what turn Trump sits at. But it’s mainly due to the fact that I spent the past two days auditioning for the role of Juror #10 in Manhattan Criminal Court. (I didn’t get the part, and I’m salty about it).
So for that reason, what you’ll see below is a bit heavier on the aggregation and lighter on the analysis. But the reactions to the latest email drop — first by House Democrats, then by House Republicans — are worth tracking.
A shred of commonality among us: A lot of people on both sides are urging the president and/or Congress to just release them all. Put the country out of its speculative misery.
REACTIONS FROM THE RIGHT
STRATEGY: Pivot like hell. While I do think this is an issue MAGA really cares about, I have doubts that the debate over the H1-B visa program would be so wall-to-wall had there not been a desire to talk about anything other than Epstein.
Released H1-B videos but made no mention of Epstein files: Patrick Bet-David, Brett Cooper, Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, Isabel Brown, etc.
Other … interesting what-abouts:
“Anyone want to talk about the PROVEN inappropriate showers Joe Biden took with his underage daughter?” — Gunther Eagleman
“You can’t be outraged by the Epstein saga and simultaneously not be outraged by the fact that we have Muslims serving in Congress.” — Laura Loomer
ARGUMENTS: The conservative creators made these key and repeated arguments:
Of course Trump knew Epstein was a pedophile, “I assumed that’s why he kicked him out” of Mar-A-Lago (Steven Crowder)
This is a “Democrat + Mainstream Media hoax.” (Karoline Leavitt)
Democrats redacted the name of the victim, Virginia Giuffre, thinking it would damage their argument, because she testified she witnessed no wrongdoing by Trump. (Tim Pool)
It reflects well on Trump that he “asked Ghislaine to stop” — but otherwise there is “nothing new here.” (Ben Shapiro)
The email dump proves that “regime media” was colluding with Epstein “to create hoaxes about Trump.” (Mike Cernovich)
Democrats are scrambling after they folded on the shutdown, so this is a “cheap optics scam” to gain favor with voters (Andrew Kolvet)
The whole thing is “disgusting,” but there’s a difference between “a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old.” (Megyn Kelly)
REACTIONS FROM THE LEFT
STRATEGY: I wanted to look at creators’ reaction time — how quickly YouTubers especially could turn around their video coverage after the story dropped at 8:30 a.m.:
23-year-old Adam Mockler continues to dominate — his video was posted within an hour of the newsbreak and was about to hit 100k views when I checked in at noon. This video is a classic read-along, a style preferred by young people who like to learn with a host, rather than on their own. Mockler also brings in, you guessed it, the betting platform Kalshi to use in his argument that Dems are winning the optics battle over the Epstein files.
Brian Tyler Cohen used clips to add context and build his case. He included sections of his interview with the newly sworn in Rep. Adelita Grijalva, a clip of Speaker Johnson, a supercut of Trump calling the investigation a “hoax,” plus some throwback bites of the president contradicting himself on the previous point. His piece netted 70k views in 45 mins.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that former anchormen are always some of the first to go live. Jim Acosta, Katie Phang, and Ryan Lizza completed a two-hour livestream, and Don Lemon broadcast for an hour from the airport. Ranking Member of House Oversight Robert Garcia patched into both streams. (Trust me, I have a lot to say about him in the Saturday send).
Also hot out the gate by 12 p.m.: Jack Cocchiarella, MeidasTouch, Aaron Parnas, Farron Balanced, Legal AF, Occupy Democrats, and Breaking Points came in right at the buzzer.
ARGUMENTS: Liberal creators’ key points are:
Trump, at minimum, knew about Epstein’s abuse, if not participated in it.
Ghislaine Maxwell lied that Trump had never been to Epstein’s house and was rewarded with transfer to a nicer prison.
It was responsible and law-abiding to redact the names of victims.
LOOSE ENDS:
📝 Word I learned today: alexithymia
inability to identify and express or describe one’s feelings definition — “One constant I’ve found is how technology brings a kind of alexithymic fog.” (via Dr. Steven Barrie-Anthony, NY Times)
📰 Something you should read today: 30 Days, 9 Cities, 1 Question: Where Did American Prosperity Go? — kyla scanlon
🥹 Something to make you smile today: I “won” — well my suspicion is it was rigged — the fall raffle at my pilates studio. And I am here to report that not only were bitches right about pilates being amazing, they were also right about the Stanley Tumbler being an elite water bottle that I would never spend my own money on. I feel like I am armed with a legitimate weapon carrying it around.
Good synopsis all in one place!