Donald Trump has lashed out against his own supporters, calling them gullible “weaklings” for questioning the transparency of a secretive government inquiry into the late high-profile socialite and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The US president is struggling to contain a political crisis within his usually loyal Make America Great Again (Maga) base over suspicion that the administration is hiding details of Epstein’s crimes to protect the rich elite Epstein associated with, which included Trump.

In a lengthy post on his social media website, Truth Social, Trump accused his voters on Wednesday of falling for what he called a “radical left” hoax by the opposition to discredit him.

“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker. They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years,” he wrote.

“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support any more!”

In an interview with Real America’s Voice, the far-right network created to host Steve Bannon’s podcast, Trump doubled down on what should be done with the details around Epstein’s crime on Wednesday and said the FBI should investigate what he called “the Jeffrey Epstein hoax” as part of a criminal conspiracy against him.

“They could look at this Jeffrey Epstein hoax also, because that’s the same stuff, that’s all put out by Democrats,” Trump said. “And you know some of the naive Republicans fall right into line.”

One of the most dramatic theories circulating among Trump supporters is that Epstein – who killed himself in 2019 while in federal custody – was murdered by powerful figures to cover up their roles in his sex crimes against children.

Republican voters and politicians have pressed Trump to publicly release documents related to the case, which have become known as the “Epstein Files”.

Multiple users on Truth Social responded to Trump’s post, calling for him to release more information. “You’re losing your most loyal followers and voices Mr President,” said one post. “Why are you protecting pedophiles?” said another post.

Trump’s tirade on Wednesday was an angry departure from his previous attempts to placate his backers. On Tuesday, he attempted to divert attention by describing the inquiry as “boring” but said he backed the release of any “credible” files, without specifying what those were.

“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday night when asked why his supporters are so interested in the case. “It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring, and I don’t understand why it keeps going.

“I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going,” he added. “But credible information, let them give it. Anything that is credible, I would say, let them have it.”

During his election campaigns, Trump fuelled multiple conspiracies by his Maga movement, including that the country was controlled by shadowy “deep state” elites. This has caused deep paranoia among his base, who are now, unusually, questioning their leader over the Epstein controversy.

Last week, the justice department and the FBI announced that a review of the case files had confirmed that Epstein had killed himself, and there was no list of his clients to be made public.

Conservative allies of the president have focused their anger on the attorney general, Pam Bondi, who was leading the case, as she had previously said Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review”.

Several other high-profile conservatives have called for Trump to make public everything known about Epstein. Even his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, a Fox News host, has been critical, saying: “I do think that there needs to be more transparency on this.”

On Tuesday, Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, called for the justice department to make the document public, breaking with Trump in a rare moment of friction between the allies.

“It’s a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it,” Johnson told Benny Johnson, a rightwing podcaster, in an interview released on Tuesday. “I agree with the sentiment that we need to put it out there.”