Republican base defends besieged Trump
ALTAMAHAW, United States: While many see Donald Trump’s presidency as a slow-motion car crash, the core voters who elected him are standing by their man, shrugging off the scandals and thrilled he is sticking it to Washington’s establishment.
That was a common view at the auto races at Ace Speedway in rural North Carolina, where America’s stock car racing tradition was born.
“I think the Democrats are trying to make things hard for him,” Robin Hall said as she sat in the grandstands.
The 53-year- old daycare worker dismissed the chaos cascading into the White House in recent weeks as sour grapes from critics still shocked that Trump’s populist revolt thrust him into the top job.
“They’ve got their so- called panties in a wad right now,” she said. “They’re not in control.”
Exactly four months into his administration, Trump is by most accounts a leader under siege.
Democrats accuse him of obstructing justice by urging FBI director James Comey to halt an investigation into an adviser, then firing Comey – the very person overseeing an investigation into his team’s possible collusion with Russian meddling during last year’s election campaign.
Reports have since emerged that the president passed secret intelligence to Russian officials during a recent meeting, and that the FBI has identified a senior White House official as a ‘significant person of interest’ in its probe into Russian interference.
All the while, Trump has lobbed political bombshells with his daily tweets, indignant and belligerent comments that have left many on edge. Although the political firestorm has led some Republican lawmakers to back away, Trump’s base remains wholly on board.
The grassroots Republicans in conservative regions of the country are collectively swatting away the scandals, proudly defending their hero and insisting they care little or nothing about accusations that have sent reverberations through the White House.
Some aggressive Democrats have begun to discuss methods for Trump’s ouster, but “impeachment is not happening,” asserted Wayne Booker, a black attorney from Cary, North Carolina who backs Trump.
As for the Russia probe: “Drop it, move on and let the man try to do his job,” he said. Although several Trump supporters said they acknowledge some of Trump’s missteps, they expressed confidence he would grow into the job.
“I think he’ll be alright,” said Cassidy Cloer, a 21-year- old university student in Raleigh.
“I’m not worried” about the scandals, she added. “They’re going to throw things at him.” North Carolina voted for Barack Obama in 2008, but flipped Republican in 2012. Trump carried the state last year and, notably, four other states that voted twice for Obama. Core supporters say they love the non- politician’s brash and unapologetic style even though it gets him in trouble. — AFP