The New York Times reports:

The Trump administration’s recent decision to backtrack on releasing new details about the investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has prompted something exceedingly rare: Republican voters have begun to break with the president.

Mr. Trump has long engendered unwavering loyalty from his followers, who tend to shrug off even his most extreme controversies.

But recent public polling suggests even such fervent support may have a limit. While 40 percent of Republicans approve of Mr. Trump’s handling of the release of the files on Mr. Epstein, more than a third of them — 36 percent — disapprove, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University. That is perhaps the most intraparty discontent Mr. Trump has experienced as president.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans overall disapprove of the Trump administration’s handling of the case, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

Indeed, the Epstein files have led to one of the most unified moments in recent political history. According to recent polling from CBS News and YouGov, nearly 90 percent of Americans — including 83 percent of Republicans — think the Department of Justice should release all the information it has regarding the case against Mr. Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial on charges that he had sex-trafficked teenage girls. [Continue reading…]