A fresh wave of data might be striking a nerve deeper than any lawsuit or accusation for President Donald Trump: Jeffrey Epstein is catching up to him in online popularity.
According to Google Trends, interest in Epstein—spurred by a bombshell Wall Street Journal report alleging Trump once gifted Epstein a drawing of a naked woman—has surged so significantly that it’s now rivaling Trump’s own baseline levels of attention.
In the last three weeks, as the Epstein saga roared back into the spotlight, public curiosity has turned into a digital obsession. For the first time during this renewed frenzy, Epstein’s search interest climbed to the 23rd percentile, putting him nearly neck-and-neck with Trump, who has hovered in the low 20s—a rare dip for a man addicted to the spotlight.
“I’m not sure he gets away with it this time because it’s actually in character,” said author Michael Wolff. “They were best friends, and the gift fits the central mutual interest they shared: women.”
Searches like “Trump and Epstein,” “The Epstein Files,” and even the misspelled “Epstien” have surged to the top of the trend charts. Though the Journal’s explosive reporting ironically also spiked Trump’s own search interest, the symbolic sting remains: he’s sharing top billing with a disgraced sex trafficker—one who’s been dead for six years.
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