For years, President Donald Trump and his Republican allies benefited from conspiracy theories that fueled the conservative MAGA movement and targeted his political enemies.

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida on two state felony charges, paid restitution to three dozen victims, and registered as a sex offender. A decade later, Epstein pleaded not guilty in New York to multiple charges, including sex trafficking.

A conversation with Julie K. Brown, the investigative reporter who knows more than almost anyone else about Jeffrey Epstein

Conspiracy theorists tend to be collectors: One conspiracy is never enough. Our conspiracy theorist in chief has speculated that Barack Obama and Nikki Haley weren’t born in the United States, that vaccines cause autism, that voting machines miscounted the results of the 2020 presidential election, and more.

The problem with a conspiracy theory is, of course, the more you talk about it, the more interest people take in it. The whole thing is born of distrust — so who wants to listen to someone telling them there’s nothing to see, even if that someone is Trump himself?

Swirling conspiracy theories around the convicted paedophile see the president’s supporters turn on his officials

Trump defends Attorney General Pam Bondi amid Epstein files backlash as FBI Director Patel squashes resignation rumors, calling conspiracy theories about discord untrue.