Spheres of influence: On Epstein and other things, how influential are Trump’s online supporters?

A group of conservative commentators and internet personalities went to the Oval Office for the unveiling of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein .

Since Epstein was found dead in his New York prison cell while awaiting sex trafficking charges in 2019 , conspiracy theories have swirled.

The Justice Department said in a publicly released memo that Epstein kept no specific list of high-profile clients to whom he trafficked underage girls.

David Wheeler asks: How politically salient is Epstein , and how influential are the influencers? Wheeler: Is this something that animates grassroots MAGA supporters, or is this a purely online phenomenon? Trump largely ignored these commentators when he ordered strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last month .

But it’s also true that internet communities helped him return to the White House .

Wheeler: In 2022 , Elon Musk bought Twitter and rebranded it as X and made it more Trump -friendly.

The types of low-propensity voters Musk and Kirk have been credited with turning out in 2024 have always been a challenge in nonpresidential election years .

There has also been a question of how transferable Trump ’s appeal to nontraditional voters is to more conventional Republicans in downballot races.