President Donald Trump labeled Charlamagne tha God a “low IQ individual” after the radio host suggested conservative Republicans will use the storm around the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files to take the party back from the MAGA movement.
Why It Matters
The U.S. president has tried to get the MAGA community’s attention off the figure of Epstein in recent weeks. The late New York financier and convicted sex offender, died in jail on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
What To Know
Charlamagne tha God, whose real name is Lenard McKelvey, made the comments during an interview with Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee, in an episode of her Fox News show.
“I think that traditional conservatives are going to take the Republican Party back,” McKelvey told Lara Trump. “I think this Epstein thing is going to be a way for traditional conservatives to take their party back, I really do,” The Breakfast Club co-host added.
“I think they know this is the issue that has gotten the base riled up. The MAGA base isn’t letting this issue go, and for the first time, they know they can probably take the party back and not piss off the MAGA base.”
Hours later in a Truth Social post, President Trump called McKelvey a “sleazebag.”
More
Jamie McCarthy/Win McNamee/Getty Images
“(Why is he allowed to use the word ‘GOD’ when describing himself? Can anyone imagine the uproar there would be if I used that nickname?),” the president wrote.
“He’s a Low IQ individual, has no idea what words are coming out of his mouth, and knows nothing about me or what I have done.”
A Dangerous Storm for the President and MAGA
Numerous conspiracy theories around the figure of Epstein have emerged in the years since his death, proving particularly popular with the MAGA base. Some claim that Epstein did not die of suicide in jail, while others suggest that several high-profile figures in U.S. politics may have been involved in the financier’s illegal activities—and that this information is being kept secret for less than transparent reasons.
Ahead of the presidential election last November, President Trump promised he would release various files linked to the Epstein trial if reelected, accusing Democrats of covering up the truth. However, after his return to the White House, the president has shut down any question about the Epstein files, telling a reporter last month: “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years…That is unbelievable.”
While some Republicans have been fueling these theories through the years, Democrats have recently rallied around the release of the so-called Epstein files—documents about criminal investigations surrounding the New York financier and former friend of the president—as they believe that the back-and-forth on the issue is hurting Trump.
Early last month, the Department of Justice and the FBI said that they found no evidence of a “client list” belonging to Epstein and that he did die by suicide, contradicting the existing conspiracy theories making the rounds in the MAGA community.
President Trump described some of his most loyal supporters still clamoring over the Epstein files as “some stupid Republicans” who fell for a hoax, revealing a deepening rift within the party and his support base.
Time for a ‘Political Coup’
According to McKelvey, there is a “political coup going on right now in the Republican Party that people are not paying attention to,” linked to the entire controversy around Epstein. But the radio host suggested that, at the next election, Republicans might make the same mistake that Democrats made after President Barack Obama’s two mandates—trying to be like him.
What People Are Saying
Charlamagne tha God talking to Lara Trump on Fox News: “Say what you want, Donald Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime, one-on-one, political juggernaut, you are not going to be Donald Trump. If you think you are going to be able to do what Donald Trump has done, talk the way Donald Trump has talked, get away with what Donald Trump has gotten away with, it’s not going to happen.
“So, everybody right now, we have the opportunity to have a huge reset. I think you should blow it all up, I think people are sick and tired of what we’ve been presented from both parties,” he added.
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen if there will be an announcement on the release of the Epstein files.
