In fact, the Epstein deflection is a standard Democrat strategy and not just restricted to hotbeds of Muslimism

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Dem Senate Candidate: My People Have the Sadz About Dead Ayatollahs

Ed Morrisey, HotAir:

“One leading Michigan Democrat chose the latter as his priority. Abdul El-Sayed, a leading contender for the nomination to the open US Senate seat, told his campaign that he would avoid discussing the demise of Iran's Supreme Leader. Instead, El-Sayed adopted the strategy that other Democrats have used during the war by painting Trump as a "pedophile" associate of Jeffrey Epstein. The Free Beacon's Eliana Johnson brought the receipts this morning”

Michigan's left-wing Democratic Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, told staffers he wanted to avoid making a public statement about the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—or taking any public position on it at all—because "there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad" about his death, according to audio from a private campaign strategy call obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

If reporters pressed him to take a position, he said, he would change the subject to Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. "I'm just gonna go straight to pedophilia, frankly," El-Sayed said. "I'll just be like, 'Pedophile president decides that he doesn't like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war.'"

His remarks came during a conference call with his communications team on March 1, during which the candidate and his communications team discussed his messaging on Operation Epic Fury. The previous day, Feb. 28, an Israeli airstrike killed the Iranian dictator, who, as president of Iran and then as the country's supreme leader starting in 1989, oversaw the murder and torture of political opponents inside Iran and deadly terrorist attacks against the country's enemies, including hundreds of Americans.

"I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So, like, I just don't want to comment on Khamenei at all. Like, I don't think it's worth even touching that," El-Sayed told his campaign team.


AI Overview

As of March 2026, a significant number of Democrats and some political commentators have claimed that President Donald Trump initiated military action against Iran, known as "Operation Epic Fury," partly to distract from the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein

. Polling suggests this belief is highly partisan, with 81% of Democrats in one survey agreeing that the Iran war was used as a distraction from the Epstein files.

Politicians and Commentators Linking the Events

  • Wab Kinew: The NDP Premier of Manitoba, Canada, strongly asserted that Trump is fueling the war in Iran to "bury" public attention on the Epstein files, stating, "Let the Epstein class fight the Epstein war".

  • Mehdi Hasan: The CEO of Zeteo News suggested the war serves as a "distraction from domestic economic woes and the release of the Epstein files".

  • Rep. Jim McGovern: The Massachusetts Democrat denounced the war, blaming the "billionaire Epstein class" for influencing the Trump administration's policy.

  • Graham Platner: A Maine Democrat who told a crowd that the war is pushed because "Donald Trump is in the Epstein files, and other people in the White House... are terrified".

Polling and Public Perception

  • Data for Progress Poll: A survey conducted in March 2026 found that 52% of Americans believe the Iran war was used, at least in part, as a distraction from the Epstein scandal.

  • Party Breakdown: While 81% of Democrats supported this view, the poll found that even about a quarter of Republicans believed the war was partly intended to distract from the scandal.