SHOCKING BREAKAWAY: GOP Lawmakers Sever Ties with Trump Over Epstein ‘Baggage’ – Internal Feuds Erupt as Party Faces Meltdown

By James R. Callahan, Washington Bureau Chief Washington, D.C. – November 18, 2025

The whispers in Capitol Hill corridors turned to shouts on social media Monday, as a cadre of House Republicans publicly broke ranks with President Donald Trump, citing his “unacceptable baggage” tied to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. What began as a bipartisan discharge petition to force the release of sealed Epstein files has snowballed into the most visible GOP fracture of Trump’s second term, with allies turning on each other, donors fleeing, and conservative media hosts scrambling to contain the fallout. The viral clip of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) declaring, “We can’t keep defending the indefensible,” has racked up 15 million views on X, leaving MAGA loyalists reeling and the White House in damage-control mode.

The catalyst was a late-Sunday Truth Social post from Trump, in which he abruptly reversed course on the Epstein files after months of dismissing the push as a “Democrat Hoax.” “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide,” the president wrote, urging passage of the bipartisan bill led by Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). It was a stunning about-face from his earlier efforts to quash the measure, including personal calls to GOP holdouts and a Situation Room summit with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. But for many Republicans, the flip-flop came too late—and reeked of desperation.

By Monday morning, the dam had burst. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a firebrand Trump acolyte who signed the discharge petition despite White House arm-twisting, went further in a Fox News interview: “The president’s legacy on transparency is what we’re honoring here. But some of this Epstein baggage? It’s unacceptable, and it’s time to cut ties with the past.” Her words, clipped and shared by @Acyn, exploded online, trending under #GOPBreakaway and #EpsteinBaggage. Boebert’s defiance followed a similar stand by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), whose public feud with Trump over the files prompted the president to withdraw his endorsement last week, calling her “wacky” and disloyal. Greene fired back on X: “I’m done defending shadows. Release the files, or the truth will anyway.”

Insiders describe MAGA circles as a powder keg. A late-night emergency call among party strategists—leaked to Politico—ended in chaos, with one aide shouting, “If this blows up, we all go down.” Sources say Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) huddled with Trump allies until 3 a.m., only to concede on “Fox News Sunday” that the House would vote this week: “We’ll just get this done and move on. There’s nothing to hide.” But privately, Johnson fumed about “friendly fire” from the GOP-led House Oversight Committee, whose Epstein probe has unearthed emails linking Trump to Epstein’s orbit— including a 2002 memo noting “DJT requests discretion on Mar-a-Lago overlaps.” The committee’s revelations, meant to provide political cover, have instead fueled the frenzy, with Trump’s name surfacing repeatedly in unsealed documents.

The defections aren’t isolated. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and a dozen other Republicans, including moderates like Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), have signaled support for the bill, bucking Trump’s initial veto threats. Polling underscores the shift: A Quinnipiac survey shows 36% of Republicans now disapprove of Trump’s Epstein handling, with 83% across the party favoring full file release. Massie, the petition’s GOP ringleader, predicted a “deluge” of yes votes, telling ABC News: “The record of this vote will last longer than his presidency.” Even Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate Majority Leader, hedged Monday: “We’ll review it seriously”—a far cry from Trump’s earlier demands to kill the bill.

Panic rippled through Trump’s inner orbit. Steve Bannon, on his War Room podcast, blasted the defectors as “RINOs selling out to the deep state,” while Laura Loomer warned the scandal would “consume” the presidency—not from guilt, but Democratic sabotage. Trump loyalists like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) rallied with a midnight X thread: “This is betrayal, pure and simple. Stand with the boss or get out.” But cracks showed: Gaetz’s post garnered only 45% likes from his followers, a dip from his usual 70%. Donors are bailing too; a PAC tied to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s heirs halted $5 million in midterm funding, citing “reputational risks” from the Epstein taint.

Conservative media, once a monolith, splintered. Fox News’ Sean Hannity defended Trump as “transparent from day one,” but even he pivoted: “Release ’em all—let’s end the hoax.” On the right-wing fringe, Newsmax host Rob Schmitt accused Greene and Boebert of “stabbing the movement in the back,” sparking a viewer boycott threat. The infighting spilled online, with #TrumpVsGOP trending alongside memes of a fracturing elephant— one showing Trump as Epstein’s “terrific guy,” per his 2002 quote.

Democrats are gleeful, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tweeting: “The truth sets you free—even if it means cutting ties.” But the real stakes loom larger: If the bill passes the House with 40+ GOP votes—as Khanna predicts—it heads to a Senate wary of a veto fight. Trump’s Sunday reversal may avert immediate humiliation, but analysts like CNN’s Maggie Haberman call it “rare weakness,” exposing a lame-duck president losing his grip. Midterm losses already stung; this could torch the GOP’s slim majorities.

Behind the scenes, the leak of that strategists’ call—captured in a 2 a.m. Zoom audio snippet shared anonymously on X—has aides “scrambling to control the narrative,” per one GOP consultant. Longtime allies admit privately: “We saw this coming. The files are toxic.” As one Hill staffer put it: “Loyalties collapsed faster than a house of cards in a hurricane.”

The internet, insatiable, dissects every angle: TikToks splicing Trump’s flip-flop with Epstein flight logs, Reddit threads theorizing donor revolts. #EpsteinFiles has 50 million mentions since Sunday, dwarfing shutdown coverage. Victims’ advocates, from Sarah Ransome to the Giuffre family, amplify the chaos: “Finally, even his party can’t bury the truth.”

A full-blown meltdown looms. With the House vote imminent, Senate Republicans face weeks of pressure. Trump’s DOJ probes into “Democrat-Epstein links”—targeting Clinton and Reid Hoffman—reek of deflection, but won’t quiet the GOP’s internal roar. As Massie quipped: “The baggage is too heavy; time to drop it.”

In Washington, where scandals simmer and loyalties are currency, this breakaway isn’t just a rift—it’s an earthquake. The GOP, once Trump’s unbreakable fortress, is crumbling under the weight of its past. And as the viral clips loop, one truth endures: The indefensible can’t be defended forever.