Ah, the plot thickens. Or the sh*t stew that is the whole Trump-Epstein scandal. It’s not like the Wall Street Journal and Trump have been pals in his second term. Fox? They remain sycophantic fluffers as usual. Still, the WSJ piece on that bawdy 50th B’Day letter from Trumpty to Epstein was a bombshell. Now we’ve learned that just before it was published, VP Vance flew out to the Murdoch ranch in Montana for a ‘double-super-secret’ meeting!
Of course, given Air Force Two had to land 70 miles away in Butte (not exactly a major destination so the flight and plane stuck out), and the ensuing motorcade meant lots of locals knew who was in town and it was easily discernable where he went. Like the plane a convoy, even a smallish one of those black SUVs stands out on the highways in rural America. Anyway, Vance made an unscheduled and unannounced visit to Montana. Where he met with Rupert Murdoch. And Rupert’s son Lachlan who runs the day-to-day stuff now. And Fox News executives…
As this article from the The Latin Times tells us this little pow-wow happened on Tuesday. We know what happened hours after Vance winged his way back home. Perhaps you saw news about it Wednesday. Hell, you couldn’t avoid the freaking news Murdoch’s flagship publication, the WSJ published! I don’t want to get bogged down but there are some questions I have.
- Did Murdoch give Vance a heads up about the WSJ article? And if so what then? Did Vance try to talk the Murdochs out of it or did he ‘go along’?
- If Vance DID learn the article was about to drop, did he warn Trump? Now THAT is a question isn’t it!
- Did Trump somehow get wind of the impending story/disaster and sent Vance to Montana to personally get it killed? And, if so what’s Trump thinking about Vance now?
That last one is worth some thought, at least to me. While he might not have had much in the way of actual details about that WSJ article it’s conceivable that word would have gotten to him they were preparing something that was going to both ‘bigly’ ruin his day AND throw gasoline on the Epstein fire. We know he can and has called up Rupert Murdoch directly. Trump’s admitted he did so although I think the timing is murky. Sending Vance to engage in some personal “negotiation” is very Trumpian.
However it’s more complicated than that. Out there in MAGA world are people who know Trump’s not going to live forever. They also came to realize this Epstein matter was causing a LOT of heartburn with rank and file MAGAs who are already pissed about some of the stuff (especially Medicaid cuts in big swaths of Trump territory) in the legislation Trumpty just rammed though. It’s looking more and more like come 2028 Trump’s plans to be on the ballot are over.
Someone will have to take over fronting the MAGA movement and become the candidate. Who? Well, that’s quite a topic in and of itself. For now let’s just state the obvious – Vance signed on as Trump’s VP because he thought it would put HIM in position to take over MAGA. There’s not a chance in hell Trump actually trusts Vance. He probably has a food taster whenever he sits down for a meal with the guy!
My point is that regardless of whether Trump sent Vance to Montana or Vance went on his own Trumpty has got to be worried that Vance either failed so miserably, or didn’t really try all that much to kill the story. Or that VANCE had gotten wind of it and was starting to scheme with the Murdochs, and worse Fox News on perhaps “taking over” even before 2028! You might think that’s crazy talk but Trump? It’s exactly the kind of thing that would occur to HIM because if the roles were reversed it’s what HE would do to Vance!
I’ll close with noting more is coming. Learning about that massive FBI operations to scour the Epstein files to flag any mentions of Trumpy likely means the WSJ has a lot more they can write about and publish. Remember, it was all loaded onto a giant spreadsheet for Bondi and her team but it wasn’t a SECURE file. That means the “1000 Witnesses” number isn’t close to the number of potential sources that could have long since given the whole thing to the WSJ. If odds makers in Vegas were asked about the odds of it being leaked they’d curl up in the fetal position.
That spreadsheet and all the investigative leads for journalists and outlets that still have some guts WILL leak. Massively. As the Wilford Brimley character said in Absense of Malice ‘the last time there was a leak like this Noah built himself a boat!’ Anyway as I said the timing of Vance trying to secretly meet with the Murdochs (and Fox) is interesting at the very least. I for one can easily envision Vance deciding to proverbially “Go Brutus” on Trump hence the title pic.
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“Or that VANCE had gotten wind of it and was starting to scheme with the Murdochs, and worse Fox News on perhaps “taking over” even before 2028! You might think that’s crazy talk … ”
No, I don’t think it’s crazy talk at all. Except that they probably don’t need to actually TALK about it yet — it’s still in the wink-wink, nudge-nudge stage. The very fact that Vance is talking with Murdoch is a sign standing for that. And as you point out, Trump would get the idea immediately. That’s why I’m skeptical Trump sent Vance. More likely Murdoch invited him — to tell him about the upcoming story — so Vance would deliver the news to Trump. That would really stick in the shiv, wouldn’t it?
A question I find really interesting is how the MAGA base would process this. The Catholic part of the base absolutely LOVES Vance, but they are a minority and I don’t think the rest of them do at all. And even now the significant part of the base that is still loyal to Trump would not support Vance replacing him.
So if Vance is anointed by the WSJ, I see the potential continued splintering of MAGA. I don’t know who but Trump could hold it together, and we’re reaching the point, I hope, where even Trump can no longer do that.