Forget the antiquated aphorism “Follow the Money.” Instead, adopt “Follow the Follower.” If you do, you’ll get closer, much closer, to what matters most.
The scandal resurrected around the decidedly dead Jeffrey Epstein is a quintessential example of how followers matter as much as leaders. For how this story ends will be determined not by the American president, nor by any other individual, nor for that matter by any branch of government. It will be determined instead by a collective composed of American voters – the collective known as MAGA. By Republicans across the country who have been deeply and unwaveringly devoted to President Donald Trump but who in theory, if not yet in practice, could be dislodged from their base.
I am not predicting it. What I am predicting is that what Trump does or does not do in the coming weeks will matter little if at all. Instead, the impact of the Epstein scandal, if ultimately any, will be determined by ordinary people who up to now have been reliable MAGA loyalists. It will be determined by Republican followers of whom Republican leaders have been, for fully a decade, seriously scared.