Mega MAGA Fissures Over Epstein Files

Feb 18, 2026 09:20 PM EST, Wed

Nicolle Wallace on why the latest MAGA break over the Epstein files is a ‘huge deal’

The “Deadline: White House” host said the criticism against Trump is “getting louder and louder,” especially among members of his MAGA base.

Feb. 18, 2026, 1:48 PM EST By Allison Detzel

‘Huge deal’: Major MAGA podcaster breaks from Trump, slams Pam Bondi over the Epstein Files

Feb 17, 2026 #epsteinfiles #jeffreyepstein #pambondi

Join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with reaction to the continued fallout over the way Trump’s Justice Department has handled the Epstein Files scandal, and how the lies fed to the MAGA base have backfired spectacularly on the administration with many of those who voted for him over this issue no longer trusting Trump or his administration.

The fallout over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files continues. In a a video posted to X, prominent right-wing podcaster Shawn Ryan went on a profanity-filled tirade against the Trump administration, signaling out the attorney general after her combative testimony on Capitol Hill last week.

“I’ve been pretty quiet about Pam Bondi in front of Congress the other day, talking about how the Dow is up to 50,000,” Ryan said. “Nobody gives a fuck, because what you should be talking about is how you are going to investigate and prosecute any pedophiles that were running around on Epstein Island. … But we didn’t talk about that, did we?”

The former Navy SEAL then shared his assessment of Donald Trump’s second term. “Man, the lies are stacking up fast,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many fucking lies appear in, what, a year? It’s only been a fucking year. Look at all the fucking lies.”

On Tuesday’s “Deadline: White House,” host Nicolle Wallace reacted to Ryan’s comments and the growing MAGA backlash against Trump.

“The Trump administration is trying to declare ‘Case closed, nothing to see here with the Epstein files,’ but they’re just about the only people saying that,” she said, adding: “The criticisms are mounting. They’re getting louder and louder, and they’re increasingly on the right.”

Wallace said Ryan’s remarks were a “huge deal” and stressed that the significance of his criticism of the president, to a MAGA audience, “cannot be overstated.”

The MS NOW host said the Epstein files have caused a “big break” between Trump and those who voted for him “because they hate the elites.”

“This feels like an issue where the permission structure was baked in before Trump was re-elected,” she said. “Because this issue was such a huge deal on the right.”

Wallace also noted that even she was caught off guard by how widespread the backlash has been. “I am surprised by how enraged they are by the handling,” she said.

The “Deadline: White House” host said the administration “made the wrong assessment,” adding that “the political damage for Trump isn’t just being in them [the Epstein files]; it’s hiding them.”

That, Wallace argued, was the true betrayal of MAGA. “Hiding them is the thing that goes against this religion and this worldview,” she said.

You can watch Wallace’s full commentary in the clip at the top of the page.

Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”

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