“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” That is what Donald Trump said in January 2016 to underscore the loyalty of his supporters.
At the time, it seemed like a preposterous statement; however, it appears he was correct. Public Policy Polling tested that claim, and it mostly held up. In an astonishing development, their national survey in July of 2017 found that 45 percent of Trump voters said they would approve of him shooting someone on Fifth Avenue, while just 29 percent disapproved. With Republicans that outrageously supportive of him, we should not expect them to care if Trump or his posse commit lesser crimes.
In this same survey, only 45 percent of Trump voters believed Donald Trump Jr. had a meeting with Russians about information that might be harmful to Hillary Clinton, even though Trump Jr. admitted it. Thus, they believe Donald Trump’s lies.
Seventy-two percent of Republicans consider the Russia story–of interference in the 2016 presidential election–to be “fake news,” only 14 percent disagree. Only 24 percent of Republicans wanted an investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia; 64 percent opposed an investigation. Even if the probe found that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to aid his campaign, 77 percent of Republicans think he should still stay in office.
One year later–in July of 2018–Trump supporters are holding fast to their support for Trump. Eighty-four percent of Republicans approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as President. After the disastrous Putin-Trump Summit, Trump’s overall approval rating increased to 45 percent, according to an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll. This increase in rating for Trump is due largely from the support of Republicans, as 88 percent said they approve of the job he is doing as president.
Another poll, the IPSOS/Reuters Poll on July 18, asked questions about Russia. Sixty percent approved of the way Donald Trump is handling Russia. Another 16 percent is leaning toward approval. Only 27 percent consider Russia an enemy of the United States, and only 14 percent thought it likely that Trump would be impeached.
This polling data tell us that we have a more significant problem than Trump—his supporters. They are with Trump, regardless. It does not matter to them that Trump is “a bull in a china shop.” With every step, he is breaking something, at home and abroad.
It does not matter to Republicans that in his first 497 days in office Trump made 3,251 false or misleading claims—that’s over six per day. It does not matter that Trump is breaking rules of operation and weakening American institutions, e.g., the Department of Justice, the Judiciary, the State Department, and the intelligence community. It does not matter to them that he is breaking alliances and insulting traditional allies. It does not matter to them that Trump appears to be committing treasonous acts in his private, off-the-record meetings with Russian leaders in the White House and Putin in Helsinki.
It does not matter to Republicans that Trump is outdoing the great appeaser Neville Chamberlain, who as Prime Minister of Great Britain gave important concessions to Adolph Hitler just before WW II. Trump is doing the same with Putin.
The unwavering support of Republicans for Trump is dangerous. Waiting for these people to come to their senses is unlikely to work. We need all hands on deck to fight the spread of this cancer on the Country.