The Daily Show is exposing the most bonkers excuses, conspiracy theories, and blindspots Donald Trump’s MAGA base has used to explain away his connection to convicted predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Jordan Klepper has spent years on the road confronting fans of the president, and in this exclusive clip from Thursday night’s episode he gets to the heart of their confusion. One supporter tells Klepper that yes, he does know a thing or two about “Mark Epstein.”
After getting the name wrong, he tells Klepper that Epstein has “quite a list of people that have showed up at his island from what I’ve read, you know, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates.” When Klepper informs him that Trump was also a friend of Epstein’s, he admits, “I didn’t know that.”
Ignorance turns to outright conspiracy theories as the clip continues and Klepper talks to more of MAGA in the never-before-seen footage.
One woman from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania tells Klepper that while she doesn’t believe in “all” of QAnon’s conspiracy theories, she does believe “some of it with Epstein and everything and Clinton.” She also shares with Klepper her belief that “JFK Jr.” is “still alive” and “always standing behind Trump” at his rallies.
As Klepper suggested that she may be a “fan” of the high-profile pedophile, as she admitted she once voted for Clinton before voting Trump, she tells the co-host (undoubtedly without knowledge of what she was agreeing to), “I don’t know, maybe. I could go down that rabbit hole,” she laughs in the clip.
Another man from Pennsylvania tells Klepper that Sean “Diddy” Combs is, together with Biden, “part of the Nazi world order.” Trump is reportedly “seriously considering” pardoning Combs for his prostitution convictions—a move that’s already been condemned by some in his base.
And it gets worse as Klepper chats it up with the Tampa Bay Young Republicans. They offer some “carefully thought out criticism” of Trump’s relationship to Epstein, Klepper quips in voiceover, as one representative says, “I don’t really know too much about it but I mean, I know the Democratic Party is, you know, big into doing stuff underneath the surface level” like “human trafficking.”
“Just wait until the Epstein files come out,” another tells Klepper.
One woman insists to Klepper that she’d never support someone who “associates with Epstein,” like Biden, who she says “likes to sniff kids” and went to Epstein’s island “26 times.” When Klepper points out that there seems to be a “double standard” because they’d just discussed that Trump himself has been on “video” hanging out with Epstein, she calls him a “fake f---er” who “can’t embarrass me.”
“You think you’re a journalist. You’re not,” she also tells him. Klepper, who is...not a journalist, tells her, “I’m not.”
Klepper does make it a habit to highlight Trump’s relationship with Epstein, however.
Earlier this month while hosting The Daily Show, he waded through decades of reports that showed just how deep the pair’s relationship seemed to go. “Trump and Epstein didn’t just party together. They were neighbors,” he said on the show, presenting evidence that included The Daily Beast’s report in which Epstein called himself “Trump’s closest friend for 10 years.”
“Perhaps you’ve heard of Occam’s razor. It’s the idea that the most simple explanation is probably the correct one,” he also said at the time.
Talking to Trump’s supporters on the ground showed he holds little sway with MAGA on the subject. He concludes in the new clip, “So how will this group react if the Epstein files are released and Trump is in there? I’m sure we can expect a very rational response,” Klepper says to sum it all up. “Or... maybe not.”
Klepper’s latest special, The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation is nominated for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special and Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program at the Emmys.
For more, listen to The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper on The Last Laugh podcast.
