Control the Frame or Get Framed: John Quincy Crawled So Trump Could Slither
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“Every president wants to leave their mark on the White House,” Alexis Coe, a presidential historian and fellow at New America, told McClatchy News. Most, though, “are satisfied with a portrait swap.”
Control the Frame or Get Framed
John Quincy Crawled So Trump Could Slither
In American politics, the leak is never just a leak. It’s a story—a usable myth. And the most influential one didn’t involve a dead financier or a Russian dossier. It was a whisper.
In 1824, none of the four presidential candidates won a majority in the Electoral College, so the election, so it was kicked to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay, Speaker of the House and the fourth-place finisher, was eliminated but not irrelevant: He threw his weight behind Adams, persuading his supporters to back him.
When Adams won and named Clay secretary of state—then a stepping stone to the presidency—Andrew Jackson’s allies didn’t need hard proof to cry foul. His supporters accused Adams of striking a “corrupt bargain” with Henry Clay to steal the presidency.
No proof ever surfaced. The accusation stuck anyway. It crushed Adams’s legitimacy and turbocharged Jackson’s rise. Voters love to hate a villain, and in 1824, they got two.
The scandal rewrote American politics. It became the origin story for populist rage. It showed that legitimacy is won—or lost—through suspicion that spreads.
Two centuries later, Donald Trump is relying on the same playbook—only the roles are reversed. This time, he’s the one accused. This time, it’s his name in the Jeffrey Epstein files. And this time, the counterattack begins with Barack Obama.
2025: Trump, Epstein, and the Suspicion Economy
In May, Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed Donald Trump that his name appears repeatedly in the Epstein files—documents now under DOJ review. According to the Wall Street Journal, the meeting took place in the White House. Trump has denied that the conversation occurred. Not the inclusion of his name—just the conversation about it.
So far, we’ve got court documents, flight logs, and decades of proximity to power, predation, and protection.
Tulsi Gabbard, now Director of National Intelligence, helped redirect the spotlight. She released a long-dormant House Intelligence report that challenges the conclusion—reached in 2016 by Obama’s intelligence agencies—that Russia wanted Trump to win. The goal is obvious: reframe Trump not as a man whose name appears in a predator’s files, but as a victim of Obama-era treachery.
Trump doesn’t just weather scandal. He metabolizes it. Each new accusation becomes a loyalty test. Disbelief is a rallying cry. Doubt is proof of persecution.
Same Playbook, New Platform
Adams lost to a rumor.
Trump thrives amid documents.
Jackson turned suspicion into power.
Trump turned it into performance art.
What’s changed isn’t the pattern. It’s the scale. Allegations used to echo in taverns and pamphlets. Now they ricochet through feeds, podcasts, and push notifications. The republic once ran on reasoned debate. Now it runs on algorithmic suspicion.
History Lesson
If Democrats want this scandal to mean something, they have to treat it like what it is: a story waiting to be shaped.
Scandal only works when it leaks into culture. When it spreads through living rooms, factory floors, barbershops, and sermons that emphasize that Trump’s alibi is volume, not virtue. He’s not a victim, he’s a VIP.
It has to be more than a headline. It has to be a betrayal people feel.
Action Items for the Anti-Trump Crowd
Control the frame. This isn’t just about Epstein—it’s about elite impunity. A new corrupt bargain.
Name the system. Why are the powerful always protected? Who else is on that plane?
Make it moral. This is about what we let rich men do—and to whom.
Spread it culturally. Don’t rely on MSNBC. Get it into group chats, pulpits, labor halls, and TikToks.
Pre-bunk the pivot. Trump will cry conspiracy. Be ready with: “Isn’t that what he always says?”
Leverage the suspicion. American politics doesn’t run on verdicts. It runs on vibes.
We’ve never needed airtight evidence to believe the worst. We just need it to sound true. If Democrats want a reckoning, they have to write the story. If they want consequences, they must make them contagious.
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When politics was fun:
"Why are you so shiny?"
Erb Crandal to Congressman David Dilbeck