Oathkeepers Founder Stewart Rhodes Sounds Alarm on Trump and Epstein
AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File
Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oathkeepers, is the latest MAGA voice to criticize President Donald Trump over the “Epstein Files.”
Rhodes spoke to a crowd last week at a Comfort Inn in Texas where he declared that “90%” of Trump’s “base” know the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was “up to something,” according to The Daily Beast, which first captured video of the event.
Trump has faced backlash from some vocal MAGA supporters demanding more Epstein-related documents be released to the public. Epstein died of apparent suicide in 2019 while being charged with sex trafficking. Rhodes said he was disappointed that the president himself has called an Epstein list of high-profile clients a “hoax.”
“It’s really disheartening to see President Trump just declare that to be a hoax. I don’t think it is. And I think it’s going to cause him trouble in his own base. It already is,” he said.
Trump has said he approves of Attorney General Pam Bondi releasing more “credible” information, while he’s also lashed out at supporters and “radical left lunatics” not letting the story go. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shut down the House early this week for summer break to avoid a vote on a resolution that would force the release of more Epstein documents.
Rhodes argued the president is being influenced by the “deep state” into believing Epstein is a non-story.
“This is the deep state’s dirty laundry in the deep state’s greatest Achilles heel,” he said.
He added that Trump’s purpose is to defeat the deep state above all else.
“I just sincerely hope that he keeps in mind that God saved him for a purpose. That purpose is to defeat the deep state. It’s not to make great trade deals. It’s not to have a great economy,” he said. “It’s not any of that stuff. The real heart and soul of it is to defeat the deep state. Because if he doesn’t do that it’s going to be exponentially worse for all of us.”
Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in 2023 for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He was found guilty of seditious conspiracy. He was among approximately 1,500 individuals handed a pardon by Trump in January.
