Democrats ramp up town hall offensive in GOP districts with focus on Epstein [View all]
Source: The Hill
07/26/25 6:00 AM ET
House Democrats are ramping up their town-hall blitz in GOP-held districts over the long summer recess. The strategy is not new, but this time they’re armed with a powerful new talking point: President Trump’s refusal to release the federal files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The Epstein case has rattled Republicans in the White House and the Capitol, forcing Trump to defend uncomfortable connections to the late financier and convicted sex offender, while prompting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to scrap last week’s legislative plans and mount a hasty exit from Washington to preclude Epstein-related votes.
Trump’s defiance on the files has put him at odds with the same core loyalists who helped propel him to power — a clash over a foundational MAGA doctrine that Trump himself had helped to promote. And Democrats are only happy to watch the unraveling, however long it endures, and goad it along when the chance arrives.
“Let them destroy each other. If we have to throw a log on the fire, we’ll do it,” said one House Democratic aide.
It’s not that Democrats will abandon their central message under Trump’s second term, which accuses the president and congressional Republicans of breaking promises to lower costs for working class consumers. But they want the Epstein case to complement that theme, arguing that Republicans — whether through tax cuts for the wealthy or refusing to release the Epstein files — are protecting the interests of powerful “elites” at the expense of everyone else.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5421312-epstein-democrats-town-halls/
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