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The success of the MAGA movement rests in large part on the nature of its adherents, who are often uneducated, ill-informed, and gullible. To them, conspiracy theories, i.e., that there are forces out there that make their lives miserable, provide simple answers in a complex world.

These shadowy forces, collectively known as “they,” can be globalists, Jews, Democrats, child traffickers, bureaucrats, judges, the media, or all of the above.

“They” will stop at nothing to undermine the “good” America, which is why anything that can be blamed on “them” sounds plausible to MAGA supporters.

For example, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), one of the most prominent members of the GOP’s vast QAnon wing, reacted to the devastating floods in Texas with the announcement that she would introduce legislation “that prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity.”

Noting that she has been “researching weather modification,” Greene added that “we must end the dangerous and deadly practice of weather modification and geoengineering.”

If this is something she is worried about, she may want to check in with the fossil fuel industry, which has made trillions of dollars off weather modification over the past few decades.

But we digress.

Donald Trump, who is a major conspiracy theorist himself, was the first politician to really tap into this undercurrent of the GOP and take it mainstream.

As it turned out, there were tens of millions of conservatives out there willing to believe just about any of his lies, no matter how outrageous, free of evidence, or contradicted by reality they were.

In his wake, enterprising right-wing influencers then monetized that movement and kept feeding the belief in conspiracy theories.

Now that Trump is in power (again), however, we may see that there are limits to what the MAGA faithful will believe. And, ironically, they are drawing the line at the administration walking back some of the most prominent conspiracies.

And that brings us to Sunday’s publication of a Federal Bureau of Investigation memo that essentially says that there is nothing to see here with regard to the late wealthy pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who is at the heart of several conspiracy theories.

“[A] systematic review [of all available evidence] revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” stated the memo, which was first reported by Axios. “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”

Finally, the memo also said that Epstein killed himself in prison.

As you may know, the FBI is led by two of the very people who have fueled conspiracy theories in the past – Kash Patel and Dan Bongino.

And the two of them may now find themselves on the other side of one of those conspiracies. Specifically, since their review of the evidence did not find the information that was promised to MAGA supporters, maybe the two of them (and others, such as Attorney General Pam Bondi) are now part of “them.”

What makes this case especially spicy is that Elon Musk, who also dabbles in conspiracy theories, kicked off his ongoing feud with Trump by saying in a tweet that has since been deleted that the president himself is in the Epstein files.

The entrepreneur revisited that accusation in a series of social media posts, including one that highlighted the inconsistency of the administration’s statements with regard to Epstein.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1942119635341754538

Will the MAGA faithful be satisfied with the FBI’s findings?

Time will tell.

For now, the loudest response to the memo comes from progressives who are trying to bait all those on the right who felt that Trump would drop a major bombshell that would implicate Bill Clinton and other prominent members of “them.”

However, some of those right-wing influencers are clearly not happy.

I told Dan Bongino to either arrest Jeffrey Epstein clients or resign.

Dan Bongino blocked me and hid my comment.

And now…. We all understand why

— Philip Anderson (@VoteHarrisOut) July 7, 2025

Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed.

— Owen Shroyer (@OwenShroyer1776) July 7, 2025

Alex Jones, for example, suggested that the Department of Justice “is running cover for the CIA and Mossad.

“NO ONE IS BUYING THIS!!” he tweeted. “Next the DOJ will say ‘Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed.’ This is over the top sickening.”

It will be interesting to see how this plays out this week.

The key issues to watch will be whether the discontent spills from the fringes of the QAnon movement to more mainstream conservatives (although that has become a pretty blurry line), and whether the ire of MAGA is only directed at Bondi, Patel, and Bongino, or if Trump himself becomes a target.

In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.