The release of the Epstein Files has been a hot topic in U.S. politics for months, accumulating attention as the Department of Justice made more than 3 million documents, 2,000 videos and 180,000 pictures available to the public.
Although much of the released files remain heavily redacted, it’s plain as day that many public officials and celebrities, including the president, are involved in the sex scandals. Trump’s name was mentioned more than 38,000 times, and politicians including Bill Clinton, Howard Lutnick and George Mitchell also made appearances.
The Epstein Files not only unveiled disturbing actions of American public figures, but also those in positions of power in Europe.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was mentioned several hundred times, including in Epstein’s personal emails. Mountbatten-Windsor was accused of sexually abusing one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, and of lying regarding the proximity of his relationship to Epstein himself.
Despite merely allegations circulating, Mountbatten-Windsor still suffered consequences. His own brother, King Charles III, stripped him of his titles and exiled him from Buckingham Palace almost immediately following the news.
This quick punishment barely scratches the surface of the outrage that broke out in Europe following the release of the files. Protests popped up in France, Ireland and around the U.K. Projections of Trump's and Epstein’s faces lit up the facade of Windsor Castle, and a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Ireland made headlines with a float ridiculing the Epstein files.
Meanwhile in America, Elon Musk is still pioneering projects for Tesla, Bill Clinton continues to develop his foundation, and President Trump still sits comfortably in the Oval Office.
How can it be possible that a man whose name is in the the files more times than Jesus' name was in The Bible can serve as the president of a country? This is supposed to be a role entrusted by citizens to represent their interests, fight for their freedoms and elevate the country at every opportunity. How can someone properly satisfy this role while being accused of sexual abuse on multiple occasions?
The simplest answer is the most accurate. The U.S. does not hold public officials to the same level of accountability as other nations do.
A driving factor behind this lack of power-checking is that we are slaves to party polarization, afraid to take a stand on an issue-by-issue basis because it might differentiate from party priorities.
A Marquette University Law School poll was conducted before the latest file release in February. The results showed that compared to 72% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, only 50% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents had "heard or read a lot" about the Epstein files. The study also found that only 49% of people who only consumed conservative TV news had “heard a lot” about the files, contrary to 75% who relied on other networks for news.
What this poll points to isn’t a shocker. Everyone knows the media influences our realm of knowledge when it comes to current events. But, it’s important to remember that the media decides what stories to tell based on biases associated with their company and its contributors.
When it comes to the files, conservative media has intentionally decided to tell an incomplete story. By doing this, it's less likely their viewers will let the situation challenge their beliefs or remove them from their ideological bubbles.
But realistically, this agenda setting is nothing but harmful to the public.
By herding us blindly into rigid ideological standpoints, American society’s fixation on party politics inhibits us from exercising our investigative skills, deductive reasoning, and common sense to punish public officials who are abusing their power.
So, let this be a wake-up call.
Your go-to news outlet isn’t telling you everything. It likely doesn’t even have every piece to the puzzle you’re looking to solve.
When it comes to issues like the Epstein Files — more than 3 million heavily redacted documents which are evidence of scandal, sexual abuse, statutory rape and more — there should be alarms sounding in your head. Anyone involved needs to face severe consequences. This isn’t political; it’s a matter of human decency.
And for goodness’ sake, tune out the noise.
It’s become almost expected that breaking news will be followed by a surplus of Instagram reels and AI-generated clips, mocking ground-breaking world events and lives forever changed.
When Sean “Diddy” Combs sexual misconduct allegations surged in 2024, so did the memes. Every social media platform spiked with phrases about baby oil and “Diddy parties,” trivializing serious lawsuits and real people affected.
More recently was the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September 2025, when, almost immediately following his death, came thousands of AI-generated images of him being used as stickers and reaction memes. A song memorializing Kirk even became a trending TikTok audio, with slowed, reverbed and remixed versions taking off.
Naturally, this pattern has continued with news of the Epstein files. Images mocking the use of the words “pizza” and “grape soda,” as seen in Epstein's emails, circulated on social media, joking around about what are actually sinister code phrases.
Memes have their place online. Sure, they can indirectly help to bring attention to current events and bring light-hearted energy into dark circumstances. However, it’s crucial to recognize that meme culture distracts from the headlines we should be reading thoroughly. Bringing too much humor into very real, very horrifying events signals to those in power that we aren’t paying attention.
This is how accountability slips through the cracks of democracy.
The popularity of memes indicates the problem isn’t a lack of public awareness, but a lack of public action. To combat the insulated layers of protection that public officials in the U.S. have, the expectation bar needs to be raised.
Simply appearing in the Epstein files is enough to be forced down from positions in other countries. Europeans find it “very humiliating” to see their leaders associating with “a fake American billionaire,” University of Minnesota Law School professor Richard Painter said in an NPR article.
Europeans run a stricter program for their politicians. Peter Mandelson, Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., was ousted from his position back in September and now faces criminal investigations not for sexual misconduct but for allegedly sharing government documents with Epstein.
Additionally, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is receiving more calls to step down for backing Mandelson amid the controversy.
The U.S. needs to take a page from Europe’s book. We need to stop waiting for admission of guilt to take action when the evidence is already staring us in the face.
A name in the files should be enough proof. Not because allegations equal guilt, but because authoritative positions should be earned by maintaining trust with the public. It shouldn’t fall on citizens to prove wrongdoing; it should fall on officials to prove they are deserving of their positions.
Right now, America has this backwards. We need to stop scrolling, stop tolerating and start holding public officials accountable.
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