Charlie Kirk says 'I'm done talking about Jeffrey Epstein'

Justin Baragona, The Independent

The marching orders have been received, and some of Donald Trump's most loyal foot soldiers in the MAGA media ecosystem are already dutifully falling in line. After the right-wing uproar over the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein memo hit a crescendo this weekend after the president's Truth Social post calling for the MAGA base to let it go and leave Attorney General Pam Bondi alone, key Trump ally Charlie Kirk declared on Monday that he was "done talking about Epstein" for the time being. Kirk's announcement comes a day after he spoke to the president on the phone to express his support for Bondi, according to CNN. Bondi has come under extreme fire from MAGA critics, including Kirk, who have blasted the attorney general for releasing an unsigned memo last week concluding that Epstein had no "client list," died by suicide while awaiting trial, and did not blackmail prominent figures who allegedly took part in his underage sex trafficking.

"Members of the president's inner circle have also reached out to some of Bondi's critics to essentially ask them to ramp it down, noting that Trump, at this moment, was not getting rid of his attorney general," CNN added. "Sources cautioned that while Trump was currently still supporting Bondi, things could always change." Trump privately doubling down in his support for Bondi comes after he took to his social media site on Saturday afternoon to complain about his "boys" and "gals" continuing to obsess over the Epstein case, adding that files related to the disgraced financier were "written by Obama" and "Crooked Hillary" and were therefore not worth "caring about." He added that his supporters should cease calling for Bondi to be fired over the memo.

"They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!" Trump blared on Truth Social. "We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein."

Over the weekend, Kirk - the founder of MAGA youth organisation Turning Point USA — hosted the group's Student Action Summit in Florida, which saw many of the attendees raging about the way the Trump administration has handled the Epstein case. While much of the anger was directed at Bondi, who once claimed she had the deceased sex offender's long-fabled "client list" on her desk for review only to now claim it doesn't exist, the president himself also faced pointed accusations of hiding Epstein's supposed co-conspirators.

"In 2016, we trusted the plan with Trump, but now Trump has become the deep state. What is more deep state than covering up for pedophiles?!" one SAS attendee exclaimed before referencing Trump's lengthy past friendship with Epstein.

Kirk, along with other MAGA luminaries, devoted much of their time at the conservative confab to criticizing the White House's handling of the situation while warning the president that he risked alienating many of his most devout supporters by dismissing their concerns of an administration "cover-up" on Epstein.

"Do I think this is the end of MAGA? No. I've never said that," Kirk told the Washington Post over the weekend. "Do I think the extra 10 to 15 per cent of [less inclined to vote] bros that are trading crypto and wake up at 2pm every day ... do I think they're going to be, like, 'Screw it?' Yeah. That's a huge risk."

However, by the time Monday's episode of his podcast came around, Kirk made it known that he was going to heed the president's orders to shut up about the fiasco.

"Plenty was said this last weekend at our event about Epstein," he stated. "Honestly, I'm done talking about Epstein for the time being. I'm gonna trust my friends in the administration, I'm gonna trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done (and) solve it. Ball's in their hands."