Opinion

Democrats Revive Epstein Hysteria to Distract From Russia Hoax Fallout

Published

July 26, 2025

As new revelations continue to unravel the falsehoods surrounding the 2016 Russia collusion narrative, Democrats are turning to a familiar playbook: distraction and deflection. In a segment on The Ingraham Angle, Laura Ingraham was joined by Fox News contributor Byron York and pollster Matt Towery to dissect the sudden resurfacing of Jeffrey Epstein speculation—despite no evidence tying Donald Trump to any wrongdoing.

Byron York called it a stunning turn. “It was really an extraordinary moment when we learned that the intelligence community had lied about its assessment of Vladimir Putin’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 election,” he said. “They had told us that Putin did it specifically to help elect Donald Trump. Then we found out from Tulsi Gabbard… that wasn’t true. They didn’t have any evidence to suggest that.”

He pointed out that the collapse of the Russia narrative instantly exposed “thousands and thousands of statements from Democrats, from people in the press, from their allies in the media” as false. And instead of addressing that collapse, “some of these same people… were spinning up another scandal hysteria… about Jeffrey Epstein.”

Towery: DOJ Avoided Maxwell to Dodge the Truth

Matt Towery saw the pivot to Epstein as deliberate. “It’s all deflection,” he said. “Why in the world would the democratically controlled Justice Department… never decide to go down and talk to Ms. Maxwell in the first place? I think the answer is because no one wanted to know what she would say, because it probably wasn’t going to be good.”

Towery argued that the Epstein noise is aimed at discrediting Tulsi Gabbard’s bombshell revelations, hoping to bury them under a new media cycle. “They’re trying to make the new news that Tulsi Gabbard had sound like, ‘Oh, that’s just old news,’” he explained. “And the media wouldn’t report on anything Gabbard referred to DOJ for four or five days.”

Citing fresh polling, Towery noted that “about 80% of Republicans” knew about Gabbard’s referral, while awareness among Democrats lagged at “less than 50%.” He attributed the gap to legacy media bias. “Somehow, social media always gets around this media group—and sooner or later, the truth is going to come out, both on Epstein and what took place in 2016.”

York: Trump’s Base Remains Strong Despite Media Narrative

Later in the segment, Ingraham highlighted Axios CEO Jim VandeHei’s claim that Trump is in a “sour mood” and losing support from his base. York pushed back firmly. “We’ve had a lot of polling now showing sky-high support for Trump among Republicans,” he said. “Actually, we’ve seen the support for Donald Trump job approval stay pretty steady… it’s been pretty solid throughout.”

York acknowledged that some influencers may want to rehash Epstein headlines, but emphasized, “He’s got solid support among Republicans.”

Towery: Don’t Trust the Polls That Undercount Trump

Laura also questioned an approval rating poll showing Trump at 42%, calling it suspiciously low. Towery agreed. “There’s a war… among us pollsters as well,” he said. “Those of us who poll Trump very well and have been accurate, oftentimes our polls are shunted to the side.”

He took aim at Gallup specifically. “Gallup used to be very good… They’re not anymore. They’re certainly not with Trump. 38% approval? That’s a joke.” According to Towery, internal data shows that “Donald Trump’s at above 50% approval—majority approval—in this country. Take it from me, I’m right.”