Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, perhaps accidentally, engaged in a moment of truth on Monday when responding to a reporter’s inquiry, saying that Americans are asking why the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s files were not released during President Joe Biden’s term.
“Why wouldn’t they have been released the last four years when President Biden was in office?” a reporter asked Schumer. “That’s the question every American is asking,” he responded. “Not every American, but so many Americans are asking. What the hell is [Donald Trump] hiding? Why doesn’t he want them released?” he added.
In fact, Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday and urged the majority of Republicans in the House and Senate to vote in favor of releasing the files.
Last week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails and documents they claim tied Trump to Epstein’s child sex trafficking, but in reality, the emails did no such thing.
Also, Republicans have speculated for months that if Trump really was involved, the Biden administration would have most certainly released or leaked that information during the 2024 campaign cycle to damage Trump’s chances at getting elected again.
Also Monday, Trump said he would immediately sign legislation authorizing the release of Epstein materials.
“They can do whatever they want. We’ll give them everything,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, swing voters in a major battleground state noted in the latest Engagious/Sago focus groups that they were frustrated with Democrats for prolonging the federal government shutdown, only to ultimately end it without securing a commitment from Republicans to address rising health insurance premiums.
Even some voters who supported President Trump last November said they still look to Democrats to safeguard health care affordability and the social safety net for lower-income Americans. But in this week’s panels, seven of the 13 Biden-to-Trump swing voters in Georgia said Democrats emerged from the shutdown looking worse than Republicans. Two said Republicans looked worse, while four said both parties appeared equally at fault, according to Axios.
“They gave in to the Republicans,” Trilya M., 53, of Loganville, said of Democrats. “They did not stand their ground with them, and now it’s going to affect the people that [have] the Affordable Care Act.”
It was for what?” said Christine L., 54, of Peachtree City. “It really does make them look bad.”
“They always project to be a party of the people who they care about, the disenfranchised, the people who are in poverty … but their actions contradict it, they don’t really care,” noted Elijah T, 33, of Conyers.
“Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries beat the heck out of this and wasted 41 days dragging their feet before eight Democrats finally decided enough is enough,” said Brian B., 61, of Norcross.
Rich Thau, President of Engagious, who moderated the focus groups, told Axios: “Democrats gave swing voters — who already hold the party in profoundly low esteem — yet another reason to mistrust them.”
Eight of the 13 participants said they still approve of the administration’s overall performance since President Trump returned to office in January.
The five who expressed disapproval pointed to inflation, high food prices, concerns about the job market, aggressive immigration enforcement, and a perception that the administration has not approached its governing responsibilities with sufficient seriousness, Axios reported.
Axios observed two online focus groups Tuesday night with 13 Georgia voters who supported Joe Biden in 2020 and then backed Donald Trump in 2024.
Nine participants identified as independents, three as Republicans, and one as a Democrat. While focus groups are not statistically representative like traditional polling, the responses offer insight into how some voters are processing current political developments.
Eleven of the 13 said they were aware of Democrats’ recent wins in off-year elections in strongly Democratic jurisdictions, including contests in Virginia, New Jersey, California, and New York City.
