Why Trump supporters are burning their MAGA hats in latest blow to president

Some Donald Trump supporters have reportedly been 'burning their MAGA hats' following the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Epstein was found dead by suicide in his prison cell in New York in 2019, sparking years of conspiracy theories about the circumstances surrounding his death and the ensuing investigation.

This week, Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pence, told CBS News: “I think the time has come for the administration to release all of the files regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s investigation and prosecution."

Meanwhile, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, called once again this week for the Department of Justice to release the documents.

This apparent list has been talked about for years, and while there have been several alleged 'leaks', the DoJ has since come out and said the list doesn't exist - which has only fuelled the controversy further.

Senator Josh Hawley said: “I think it is maybe a little difficult to believe the idea that DoJ and the FBI... don’t have any idea who Epstein’s clients were.”

Trump's administration has been criticised over the handling of the files (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Attorney general Pam Bondi has been particularly criticised, and was directly asked about Epstein during a recent press conference.

A reporter asked Bondi about a memo that had been released the week before, asking: "Your memo and release on Jeffrey Epstein left some lingering mysteries.

"One of the biggest ones is whether he ever worked for a American or foreign intelligence agency... So could you resolve whether or not he did and also could you say why there was a minute missing from the jail house tape?"

The reporter was referring to a video released to silence any conspiracy theories over Epstein's death, however there was a minute missing.

Responding to the question, Bondi said: "In February, I did an interview on Fox and it's been getting a lot of attention... I was asked a question about a client list and my response was, 'it's sitting on my desk to be reviewed' meaning the file... that's what I meant by that.

"Also to the tens of thousands of video, they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein... never going to be released, never going to see the light of day.

"To him being an agent, I have no knowledge of that, we can get back to you on that.

“The video was not conclusive, but the evidence prior to it was, showing he committed suicide.

“And what was on that — there was a minute that was off the counter, and what we learned from the Bureau of Prisons is every night they redo that video... So, every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing.

“So we’re looking for that video to release that as well to show that a minute is missing every night. And that’s it on Epstein.”

According to the Guardian, some Trump supporters have been burning their hats after the president dismissed the criticism over his administration's handling of the files as a 'hoax'.

Some Republicans have reportedly been burning their hats (MSNBC)

Meanwhile, MSNBC shared similar videos from social media, revealing MAGA hats engulfed in flames.

"Some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net, and so they try and do the Democrats’ work,” Trump said.

“I call it the Epstein hoax. Takes a lot of time and effort. Instead of talking about the great achievements we’ve had... they’re wasting their time with a guy who obviously had some very serious problems, who died three, four years ago.”

At a press conference on Thursday (17 July) White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The president has been transparent and followed through on his promises to the American people. But what he doesn’t like to see is Democrats and the mainstream media covering this like it is the biggest story that the American people care about."

Leavitt also added: “The Democrats had control of this building, the White House for four years, and they didn’t do a dang thing when it came to transparency in regards to Jeffrey Epstein and his heinous crimes.

“It was this president who directed the Department of Justice and the attorney general to do an exhaustive review of all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which they did.”

Bondi has been criticised over the files (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

According to a recent Reuters and Ipsos poll, nearly seven in 10 Americans believe details around Epstein's case are being concealed.

LADbible has reached out to the White House for comment.