President Donald Trump’s attempt to spin the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein scandal as no big deal and not a problem for him and his party has turned out to be a massive failure, according to a recently released Economist/YouGov poll.
The poll, conducted July 25-28, finds that a strong majority of Americans think the government is covering up evidence about the accused sex trafficker, and nearly half believe Trump was involved in crimes with his old friend.
Forty-six percent of Americans believe Trump was “involved in crimes allegedly committed by Jeffrey Epstein.” That conclusion has strong support among Democrats (80%) and independents (47%), but it even has double-digit support—11%—among Republicans.
Epstein was accused of sex-trafficking underage girls before his death in prison in 2019. The Trump administration is refusing to release government files on Epstein, including a rumored client list that could implicate others in crimes.
The poll shows that this is a very unpopular position. Eighty-two percent of Americans, including 76% of Republicans, say the files should be released. Worse for Trump, 67% think a government cover-up is underway. That includes a plurality of Republicans (46%) in the poll. On top of that, most Americans (61%) disapprove of Trump’s handling of the case.
Trump has spent weeks fuming about the case as it resurfaced in the news. Not only has he lashed out at the press and Democrats, but he has even scolded MAGA supporters for discussing the issue.
When he’s not complaining about the story existing, Trump has pushed the false narrative that Epstein-related stories have boosted his popularity. This is a blatant lie. The Economist/YouGov poll echoes other opinion polling showing the public doesn’t trust Trump on the issue and rates his handling as poor.
His allies at the right-wing Fox News have tried to downplay the story, as have congressional Republicans who continue to shut down inquiries into the scandal and related crimes. Republicans have even tried to concoct a conspiracy-riddled story about former President Barack Obama as a way to combat negative Trump/Epstein headlines. It hasn’t worked.
Despite this public flailing and bad polling, mainstream outlets like the Washington Post have continued to carry water for the administration. On Wednesday, the Post—owned by Trump ally Jeff Bezos—ran a story headlined “As MAGA storm over Epstein calms, White House plans next steps.” But this story is far from over.