How a once-fringe conspiracy theory became a spiraling controversy
Courtesy of Washington Week With The Atlantic
July 26, 2025, 10:42 AM ET
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Lingering questions over the Epstein case are consuming the White House and paralyzing Congress. Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss how a once-fringe conspiracy theory became a spiraling controversy.
One of the reasons Donald Trump cannot manage to deny or deflect attention over the Epstein investigation is that the case centers on “what the MAGA base is about, which is powerful people doing things behind closed doors,” Eugene Daniels, a senior Washington correspondent at MSNBC, argued last night.
The president tends to talk to his base about “how the lowly man and woman are losing out to these interests in Washington,” Daniels continued. “But now they are seeing Donald Trump seemingly being one of the people doing the defending and the protecting of the powerful people,” and “that’s why I think he can’t shake it.”
Joining the Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer to discuss this and more: Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent at The New York Times; Eugene Daniels, a co-host of The Weekend at MSNBC; Susan Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker; and Jonathan Karl, the chief Washington correspondent at ABC News.
Watch the full episode here.