Leftist thinkers have murmured it, activists with the most colorful hair have shouted it, and mainstream media have repeated it like parrots: that Donald Trump is a king, or that he rules like one. (Before, with the same joyful lungs, they said he was Hitler, but that never really stuck.)

You might remember some marches under the slogan “No Kings” held last June in various cities to protest alleged “authoritarian tendencies” of the government and — showcasing the Left’s anti-patriotic sentiment — trying to overshadow the military parade in Washington, D.C. for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

Democratic strategist and political consultant Jesse Ferguson, deputy national press secretary and spokesperson for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, recently described the unconditional support of President Donald Trump’s base like this: “They crowned Trump king. Democrats won't wear the crown — they'll melt it down.”

Trump’s base is loyal, yes, insofar as Trump is loyal to them, strictly fulfilling the main promises he made during his intense campaign: border security, deportation of illegal migrants, and the fight against gender ideology and inflation.

However, leftist operatives, mainstream media, and activists are wrong to frame the connection between voters and the White House occupant as a kind of offering to an omnipotent king.

And the most compelling proof has emerged this week, like a hurricane advancing.

Many of the president’s supporters were waiting for the release of the list of high-profile figures who sexually abused minors alongside billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. This case had captured the attention of many Americans and led to Ghislaine Maxwell being sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.

However, last Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a memorandum that there was no evidence Epstein had a “client list.”

The publication of the memorandum provoked a strong reaction from some Trump allies, who called for the removal of Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Journalist Tucker Carlson, close to the MAGA movement, argued on his podcast that Bondi was covering up “very serious crimes, according to her own description.”

Steve Bannon, former Trump adviser, also criticized the DOJ memo on his podcast, questioning the government’s commitment to transparency.

The political climax came this weekend in Tampa, Florida, during Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit, which drew at least 5,000 young people. There, leading MAGA voices such as Charlie Kirk — who has built an impressive base among those under 35 — and Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R), called on the administration to provide transparency regarding the Epstein files.

If, as has been suggested, Biden administration officials destroyed or hid evidence in the Epstein case, and if there is no such thing as a “client list,” what could the DOJ do? They could create their own list of potential participants in Epstein’s depravity based on the evidence they have.

People, I believe, want accountability. As a father of a young child and another on the way, I understand the repulsion within the MAGA base toward Epstein’s crimes.

It would be a shame if, after how the MLK files and the Kennedy files were handled — presented extensively to the public so everyone could draw their own conclusions — there is now political disillusionment among Republican grassroots, especially so close to the midterm elections.

However, I want to highlight an aspect that, amid the hurricane winds of the Epstein Files saga, seems to escape both the mainstream media and leftist operatives. The “Republican revolt” (as some media have called it) this week proves that the party’s base does not see Trump as a king. Rather, they see him as a public servant who is fervently criticized when necessary.

Of course, he is a public servant they admire for his courage (from resisting multiple dubious trials to his combative spirit after several assassination attempts) and for aligning his policy proposals with the concerns of decent American citizens.

And as a public servant, he is applauded when he deserves it but also questioned. And questioned en masse, even by those who have most supported him. This demonstrates a movement that is alive, not lobotomized; critical, not sheepish.

Much of the Republican base sees Trump as they would see an electrician: someone to fix the national short-circuit that included out-of-control inflation, a wide-open border, the indoctrination of minors, and the loss of parental rights over their children, among other issues.

When it comes to kings, there is another case that gets little mention: Barack Obama, who, when Congress didn’t accompany him in making laws, said he had a phone and a pen to govern. The base, the media, and activists stayed silent; and even today, the former president is venerated by the vast majority of Democrats.

Could it be that the “No Kings” crowd actually likes kings — just not any king, but their own?