Punch-drunk and on the ropes, yet voters keep the faith
Jack Tillman knows more than most about trading blows and being left reeling. A former champion boxer, he ended his career in the Royal Albert Hall in 1974 – knocked out by a Briton. Back in his Alabama hometown, he became the city’s sheriff, specialising in rounding up drug-pushing hoodlums until he retired, confessing to having misspent funds. “I used to get a lot of flak in office,” he said. “But I did what I thought was right.” And so he has
‘This has been a week of hysteria . The only poll that mattered was in November – and he won’
sympathy for Donald Trump – currently being pummelled from all sides in the most bruising week of his presidency so far.
“He’s just doing his thing,” said Mr Tillman, 70. “I’m not worried at all. He’s just a little unorthodox.”
To describe the past two weeks in Washington as unorthodox is Southern understatement at its finest.
Washington reeled from each fresh revelation; cable news channels went into overdrive. The New York Times and Washington Post delivered blow after blow to a president on the ropes.
Yet far from the Washington “bubble”, Mr Trump’s supporters were simply shrugging their shoulders.
“This has been a week of hysteria in the media,” said Terry Lathan, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. “I think it just turns people off.”
Asked if the Russia investigation bothers her and she replied one word: “Nope” – dismissing news reports as hearsay, and the intelligence agencies’ verdicts as inconclusive. “I bat all the noise away,” she said. “I filter it out.”
Despite historically low approval ratings – just 38 per cent according to a poll on Friday – Mr Trump’s support base remains fiercely loyal, a factor that could give pause to Republicans deciding whether to turn their backs on the president. “The only poll that mattered was in November – and he won,” Mrs Lathan said.
Certainly in Alabama, no one The Sunday Telegraph spoke to had any hint of “buyer’s remorse”. In the staunchly-red state, which has not voted Democrat for 40 years, Mr Trump’s turmoil troubles few. As in many of his strongholds – Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas – Washington feels very far away.
The powerful currents of life in the capital or in New York – CNN, MSNBC, both cities’ powerful newspapers – are barely felt here. Instead it is local news and talk radio that dominates – much of it staunchly conservative.
Adam Strange hosts a weekly show, Armed Alabama, with fellow Trump supporter Judge Rusty Johnston.
Both men are fervent National Rifle Association supporters; both qualified to teach survival classes for gun owners. And, sitting inside their radio studio, both said the past week’s events have not fazed them. It was, said Mr Strange, yet further proof that the Washington elites did not understand their concerns. “This country is so divided,” he said, adding that some Democrats do call his show, although many don’t give their names.
Is Mr Trump the man to unite America? “I think the uniting factor will be prosperity,” he said. “He is an executive. He will get things done.”
Mr Strange, 45, hoped that Mr Trump would prioritise healthcare reform. His own premiums, he said, had risen from $65 a month 10 years ago to $700 a month now.
Judge Johnston, however, said Mr Trump’s priority should be “illegal aliens”. He should also focus on scaling back the reach of government.
Back in the centre of Mobile, neither did Jack O’Neill have “one little bit” of regret about voting for Mr Trump.
A self-described hunting, shooting and fishing Alabaman whose family had a 150-year history in the state, he did acknowledge that Mr Trump “has a big mouth”. “But I like that he is not afraid to make a decision,” he added.
Mr O’Neill, a 25-year-old barman, said almost all his friends supported Mr Trump. “The whole Russia thing doesn’t bother me.”
In Cathedral Square, surrounded by elegant 19th century villas, Chico Parker, 62, sat playing You’ll Never Walk Alone on the trumpet.
For the first time, a note of caution was sounded. “I don’t like him,” he concluded. “And I didn’t vote for him.
“But I don’t hate him. If he’s not good, we’ll vote him out in four years.”