How ‘Epstein class’ became a populist battle cry in US politics

{"text":[[{"start":8.85,"text":"His is already one of the most infamous names in recent US criminal history. Now it is also a populist war-cry as the “Epstein class” establishes itself as the newest addition to America’s political lexicon."}],[{"start":21.45,"text":"The phrase, a shorthand for unaccountable elites, was coined last year by Ro Khanna, a Democratic lawmaker from California who co-authored a bill forcing the Department of Justice to publish all documents in its possession related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender."}],[{"start":38.55,"text":"“It’s this sense that this is an elite class who has been responsible for creating one of the most lopsided and unfair economic and political systems that America has had in our history,” Khanna told the FT."}],[{"start":50.9,"text":"The term has taken on a life of its own, bandied about by politicians on the left and right and even Hollywood celebrities such as Robert De Niro. It could also prove a big irritant for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the run-up to midterm elections in November."}],[{"start":67.4,"text":"Khanna said he came up with the idea after wading through the voluminous correspondence contained in the DoJ files between members of an “arrogant, self-entitled elite . . . who thought they were above the rest of us”. He came to realise the indifference they showed to Epstein’s sex-trafficked victims mirrored their arrogant disregard for all ordinary Americans."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":89.45,"text":"Critics of the phrase say it has echoes of QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory positing a hidden cabal of liberals who engage in child sex trafficking and secretly control the worlds of politics, media and finance."}],[{"start":103.05,"text":"But for Democrats the emergence of the epithet is well timed. It has coincided with Trump’s approval ratings plunging to record lows as anger grows over a war with Iran that has pushed up petrol prices to their highest level since 2022."}],[{"start":118.7,"text":"It also comes at a time of waning public trust in America’s institutions, with increasing frustration over rising income inequality and a “K-shaped economy” where the fortunes of the rich and poor increasingly diverge."}],[{"start":131.95,"text":"Democrats say Trump has only fanned the flames of this discontent with his recent actions, such as creating a $1.8bn taxpayer-funded “anti-weaponisation fund” to compensate victims of “lawfare”, and asking Congress for $1bn for his new White House ballroom."}],[{"start":148.54999999999998,"text":"Asked earlier this month whether the economic struggles Americans were experiencing might push him to make a deal to end the war with Iran, he said, “not even a little bit”. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” he went on, adding that his only consideration was to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":168.04999999999998,"text":"Jim McGovern, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, said Trump had “finally told the truth” by showing how little he cared about the effect rising inflation, health insurance costs and gasoline prices were having on American families."}],[{"start":181.45,"text":"“The Epstein class billionaires and special interests who write the campaign checks, they’re doing great,” he said. “But . . . for everyday people in this country, Donald Trump’s economy sucks,” he said."}],[{"start":194.5,"text":"Rhetoric about an Epstein class is effective because it “reinforces what people already feel”, said Doug Sosnik, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to then-president Bill Clinton. “This idea we’ve become two Americas, one for the people with money and power and another for everyone else.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":213.4,"text":"Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson, dismissed claims that Trump does not care about the working classes."}],[{"start":220.1,"text":"“President Trump has always been a powerful voice for the forgotten men and women left behind by the elites who shipped their jobs overseas and turned a blind eye to their daily struggles,” she said. “The American people elected [him] because he puts hardworking Americans first in everything that he does.” "}],[{"start":237.6,"text":"Trump critics say the president has misjudged the public mood on the Epstein scandal. For months he dismissed it as a “Democrat hoax”, despite polls showing broad bipartisan support for greater transparency around the case."}],[{"start":251.95,"text":"He also slammed politicians from his own party who demanded the full release of the files and justice for the sex offender’s victims. One, Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie, who co-authored the Epstein bill with Khanna, was beaten by a Trump-endorsed challenger in a Kentucky primary contest last Tuesday."}],[{"start":270.3,"text":"Massie has blamed the Epstein class for conspiring to unseat him. Speaking in an interview with talk show host Tucker Carlson earlier this month, he said Trump was beholden to this group because they were donating huge funds to his pet projects, such as the new White House ballroom and the 250ft triumphal arch planned for Washington. "}],[{"start":291.05,"text":"“These are the people who have the ear of the president,” Massie told Carlson. “They’re the billionaires. And these are also the same people who are in the Epstein files by large part, or their friends are.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":302.3,"text":"Massie’s views have been echoed by Marjorie Taylor Greene, the hard-right Georgia congresswoman and former Maga devotee who fell out with Trump over Epstein and resigned from Congress in January."}],[{"start":312.8,"text":"Greene has recently claimed Trump told her “my friends are going to get hurt” if she insisted on the publication of the Epstein files. "}],[{"start":320.8,"text":"She also told CBS News last week that Trump himself was “absolutely” part of the Epstein class, a group of “elites that are never held accountable” and “continue to dominate, no matter which political party is in charge”. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":334.1,"text":"The White House said the president had been “totally exonerated” over the Epstein affair."}],[{"start":339.65000000000003,"text":"“And by releasing thousands of pages of documents, co-operating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him,” Jackson said. "}],[{"start":357.70000000000005,"text":"Despite such protestations, Democratic politicians continue to deploy Khanna’s term to describe Trump and the Republican establishment around him. "}],[{"start":366.6,"text":"Jon Ossoff, the Democratic senator from Georgia, noted in a speech in February that Trump’s Maga movement had originally been framed as pro-working class."}],[{"start":376.1,"text":"“But this is a government of, by and for the ultra-rich,” he said. “It is the wealthiest cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class, ruling our country. They are the elites they pretend to hate.”"}],[{"start":388.1,"text":"The phrase has also come up in speeches by Graham Platner, a populist oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran who is campaigning in Maine for a seat in the US Senate."}],[{"start":398.90000000000003,"text":"But critics warn the phrase could backfire as the Epstein files also revealed the disgraced financier’s relationships with leading Democrats, such as Clinton, who has denied any wrongdoing. "}],[{"start":410.15000000000003,"text":"“There’s a whole lineage of Democrats who have had their own ties [with Epstein],” said Faiz Shakir, manager of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. "}],[{"start":420.70000000000005,"text":"“And I think the credibility of those who are bandying about the term will be tested,” he added. “Are you willing to call out the corruption on both sides?”"}],[{"start":438.20000000000005,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779782214_3824.mp3"}