The Epstein wildfire now consuming the country (Trump’s efforts at shouting “squirrel!” notwithstanding) got its start because of his long-time connection to Trump combined with Trump’s bungled denials that he ever knew Epstein, that he knew but didn’t like Epstein, that he knew and used to like Epstein, that he knew and liked Epstein but never slept with Epstein (OK, I made that one up). But it has long since metastasized into an accusation of sexual (and financial, but sex is more sexy) misconduct by major power players not just in the US but in Europe as well, to the point where we are now starting to talk about an “Epstein Class.”
Cong. Ro Khanna (D-CA) didn’t invent the term, but he has made it well-known. He has given a couple of definitions, and this is a good one:
“Americans are sick of elite impunity. There cannot be two tiers of justice, where wealthy men who abused young girls are protected while survivors are silenced,” Khanna told HuffPost. “That is what the effort to release the Epstein files has been about, and why I started calling it the ‘Epstein class.’” [emphasis added]
That’s from a HuffPost article via Yahoo News on Feb 10: Everything To Know About The 'Epstein Class,' The Term That's On Everyone's Tongues. It goes on:
“Every time the Epstein case comes up, I feel like [the term “Epstein class”] reemerges more and more,” said Josephine Lukito, a professor of digital communication at the University of Southern Denmark who studies political language in the public sphere. “I haven’t done, like, a systematic analysis of how often it comes up, but I think it has a sort of catchy quality to it that seems to resonate with people when they talk about the Epstein case.”
It resonates because it isn’t just about wealth, or about elitism, or about sex; it’s about ALL of them, with particular emphasis not just on sex but on forced sex with underage girls. It’s the last part that really resonates; even hardened criminals in maximum-security prisons do not like child molesters (to put it mildly):
Inmates convicted of child sex crimes are at the bottom of the prison hierarchy, universally despised by other incarcerated individuals, including those who have committed violent crimes such as murder. . . . Prison culture places significant emphasis on a criminal code that, ironically, does not tolerate crimes against children. . . . Child molesters often become targets for physical assaults, threats, and in extreme cases, homicide.
Trump not only appears thousands (or maybe millions) of times in the Epstein files, members of his administration are there as well: At least half a dozen top Trump administration officials appear in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Plus Elon Musk begging for an invite to Epstein’s island. Plus other elites around the world: Rich And Powerful In The New Epstein Files: Trump-Linked Sultan Bin Sulayem Steps Down After ‘Torture Video’ Email and Epstein revelations have toppled top figures in Europe while US fallout is more muted (AP).
The AP headline is slightly misleading; the US government’s response is muted, but the people’s response is NOT, no matter how loudly Pam Bondi screams about the rise of the DOW being more important than enforcing the laws against child rape. If the Democrats seize this, this will be a scandal with which to slaughter the Republicans in the next elections; it hits all the visceral buttons: an unaccountable elite, child molestation, our tax dollars going to protect the privileged.
Democrats may indeed be catching on: Democrats test 'Epstein class' attack line against Trump's orbit (in today’s Washington Examiner, of all places):
Democrats are experimenting with a new message casting President Donald Trump’s Cabinet and wealthy allies as the “Epstein class,” an attempt to channel anti-elite anger and recast the president’s inner circle as the very establishment he once ran against.
The phrase has quickly spread among Democratic lawmakers, with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) amplifying it at a rally on Feb. 7 in Atlanta as his reelection campaign ramps up. Ossoff is one of the most vulnerable Democrats on the 2026 map, defending a seat in a state Trump carried in 2024.
So far, there is no hard evidence that Trump himself was a child rapist, just that he knew about child rape. (Personally, I find the anecdotal evidence persuasive, along with Trump’s desperate and totally panicked efforts to keep the files mentioning his name out of the public eye, but that is suspicion, not proof.) On the other hand, we are not in court; we are in politics.
Trump ran and won by making his campaign about striking back against the “elite”: “one of his campaign promises was to overthrow the “corrupt elites” he accuses of flooding the American political arena. . . .” He meant the “librul [sic] elite”, which MAGA understood, but what he didn’t tell them was that he was going to replace that elite with his own elite: wealthy white supremacist men who were tired of having rules apply to them and who, many of them, liked to visit Epstein’s island. In other words, the Epstein Class.
Americans have a funny attitude about class and elitism. We claim to despise them and we often do, but also we secretly want to be one of them. That was and remains one of Trump’s many grievances: the New York elite never accepted him as one of their own. So he set out to create his own elite.
Trump started losing his hold on his base when it began to dawn on them that they would never be part of this new elite; they would be shut out of affordability and health care while they are put in danger of being arrested without cause or defense — or shot — if they happen to be in the wrong place or piss off the wrong official thug. Now they are staring to wake up to the fact that Trump’s elite is the Epstein Class — a group of child molesters too disgusting for hardened murderers to tolerate.
This is a hammer to use against Trump, his administration, and all the Republicans who enable them. Down with the Epstein Class!
-----------------— Update 1745 Pacific -----------------—
Firesideman made a great point in his comment that I want to highlight:
Its a great way to bond with our erstwhile political voting enemies.
Unlike MAGA, we do not — or at least should not — view our opponents as unreedemable demonspawn. fit for nothing but contempt. These are our fellow Americans. Perhaps even more importantly, these are our fellow voters, and Trump’s efforts to remove voters from the rolls are not aimed at them — he’s thinks he’s safe with his base.
It’s our job to prove him wrong. (This is already happening, given how many special elections have shown sold Republican voters shifting to the Democratic side.) And we do this not by shouting or belittling or looking down at them, by by bonding with them. Give them a reason to like voting for the unTrump; give them a way for them to figure out for themselves just how full of shit he is. (And never ever rub their noses in this shit, saying “see what you voted for?” That’s mot how you win elections.
Bonding. Thanks, Firesideman.
----------------------------— Update 0840 Feb 15 --------------------------------------—
More evidence that “Epstein Class” is a powerful tool for Democrats. From Ezra Klein’s NYT column this morning: What Ro Khanna Learned From the Epstein Files
Khanna has begun speaking of an “Epstein class,” his term for “the rich and powerful people who act and think like they’re above the law and, and perhaps above morality.” At first, I struggled a bit with Khanna’s coinage. What makes Epstein specifically loathsome is his pedophilia, and how many in his network really knew of that side of his life?
But the more I read the files, the harder I found it to deny the class solidarity evident within them.
Klein adds, further down:
It is worth emphasizing that Epstein’s network, as broad as it was, remained narrow in the scheme of both American and global life. We have been offered a window into a particular slice of the global elite — the slice that chose to deeply associate itself with Jeffrey Epstein.
A few comments have suggested “Epstein Elite” is better than “Epstein Class.” I disagree, for several reasons. First and foremost is that “Epstein Class” has captured the imagination, has become popular, has resonated. We should not try fiddling around with something that has been shown to work. Similarly, “Class” is shorter (1 syllable) than “elite”; yes, it’s a small difference, but a powerful one. Carville’s KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) rule still applies. That same argument applies against changing “Epstein” to “Trump-Epstein” or even “Trumpstein” — being cute turns people off (and has a flavor of elitism itself). Also, it puts too much focus on Trump and less on the spreading rot — plus many of the rotten characters tied to Epstein had nothing to do with Trump.
Finally, “Elite” is a specific term; that is, it has a specific definition as those who are wealthy and powerful, and as Klein observes, many of the elite wanted nothing to do with Epstein. “Class” is a more generic term, signalling that it is about a group of people defined by the modifier (“Epstein”) rather than the noun. Plus it triggers associations with class warfare.
It’s a powerful term. Use it, don’t dliute it.
