Remember when it felt like every Friday night, there was some explosive, never-seen-before activity coming from the White House? News would break, thumbs would scroll, politicos would lament, and those invested in news would gird themselves for another ring around the unprecedented rosie. But as Vanity Fair correspondent Aidan McLaughlin notes, “We are in a different time now.” On Friday night, reporting from AmericaFest in Phoenix, McLaughlin documented how the long-awaited, court-compelled release of over 13,000 documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, which was expected to rattle the MAGA base, produced little more than a shrug among young conservatives in attendance at the TurningPoint USA conference. What did capture folks’ attention, however, was commentator Ben Shapiro launching into a scathing criticism of the “charlatans” and “grifters” in the conservative movement on the first night, including a direct mention of his supposed longtime friend Megyn Kelly. It was further evidence of a once-united party collapsing “into an internecine feud between rival factions vying to define Kirk’s legacy and steer the future of right-wing politics.”
Elsewhere, Erin Vanderhoof rounds up the most grotesque details from the latest Epstein drop; Chris Whipple shares even more about his revealing White House report; and Bowen Yang says goodbye to 30 Rock. More tomorrow! |
ADRIENNE GREEN,
EXECUTIVE EDITOR |
As AmericaFest convened the likes of Erika Kirk, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Ben Shapiro, and other conservatives, MAGA seemed anything but united.
VF’s Aidan McLaughlin spoke exclusively to Kelly, who was “flabbergasted” when Shapiro dubbed her one of the “charlatans” and “grifters” in the conservative movement. |
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The crowd at the annual gathering thrown by Charlie Kirk’s conservative group hardly seemed to notice the Epstein files release: “Whoever died on Epstein island, who was taken advantage of, there’s more people in your neighborhood Planned Parenthood being put to death,” one attendee told VF. |
While the FBI withheld the worst of its Epstein material, there are still plenty of unpleasant sights to be seen for anyone with the stomach to dig through. |
Reporter Chris Whipple on everything from Jeffrey Epstein to Karoline Leavitt to how media scrutiny of the White House has changed. |
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Over 60 years ago, George Balanchine finally staged the Nutcracker of his dreams, a triumph for the New York City Ballet in its then new Lincoln Center home. For the January 2015 issue, Laura Jacobs tells how Balanchine’s childhood Christmases, his youth in St. Petersburg (dancing multiple roles in The Nutcracker himself), and his 41-foot tree sparked an American holiday tradition. |
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