Behold, a tale of two articles: one from the New York Times, another from Politico. According to these two completely contradictory reports, Trump’s supporters are standing steadfastly by his side and also somehow rapidly turning against him. They are furious, and also they are fine. They are lying passed out on an asphalt driveway in a bikini holding up an aluminum foil reflector, and they are also eating a ketchup sandwich in Times Square.
Who would have thought that it would be so difficult to ideologically pin down a very large and geographically diverse group of people who voted a 70-year-old mollusk into office?
From the New York Times:
Trump’s supporters don’t care so much if he reneges on some campaign promises, because they’ve always known he liked to make deals.
The sentiment that Mr. Limbaugh was homing in on — the undented confidence that many Trump supporters have in the president as a get-things-done leader and deal maker — is the reason many conservatives say they do not think Mr. Trump will suffer much as he abandons some of his policy stances. They are not inclined to punish him, they say, even after he backed off his hard lines on NATO, the Chinese and the Export-Import Bank, and attacked Syria after having opposed such intervention.
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From Politico:
Trump’s supporters are upset that he reneged on campaign promises.
Their complaints range from Trump’s embrace of an interventionist foreign policy to his less hawkish tone on China to, most recently, his marginalization of his nationalist chief strategist, Steve Bannon. But the crux of their disillusionment, interviews with nearly two dozen Trump loyalists reveal, is a belief that Trump the candidate bears little resemblance to Trump the president. He’s failing, in their view, to deliver on his promise of a transformative “America First” agenda driven by hard-edged populism.
From the New York Times:
Trump’s supporters don’t really care that much what happens overseas or in the West Wing as long as he still makes sure to fuck over immigrants and women.
Illegal border crossings are down sharply, a development that Mr. Sessions promoted in a visit to Arizona this week. The Department of Homeland Security just closed its process for accepting bids for construction of a border wall. A new Supreme Court justice adored by conservatives, Neil M. Gorsuch, joined the court this week. And Mr. Trump signed legislation on Thursday aimed at cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
“All of these things that people think are just minor issues, for people like me are huge,” said Joyce Kaufman, a conservative radio host in West Palm Beach, Fla., who dismisses the cries of hypocrisy from others on the right. “They can wring their hands all they want,” she scoffed.
From Politico:
Trump’s supporters are actually very upset about Steve Bannon’s reportedly diminishing influence in the West Wing.
The palace intrigue intensified this week after Trump refused to say he still had confidence in Bannon and downplayed the former Breitbart chairman’s role in his campaign victory. And it’s feeding suspicions that the president is changing his priorities.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), one of the president’s most vocal backers on Capitol Hill, said he’s been disheartened by the chief strategist’s isolation.
“A lot of us look at Steve Bannon as the voice of conservatism in the White House,” said King, who has known Bannon for years.
From the New York Times:
Trump’s supporters aren’t that worried about currency manipulation and other complicated economic issues.
So while much of the country sees the swerving on policy as another sign of White House dysfunction, many conservatives shrug it off as esoteric jockeying over foreign alliances, currency manipulation and economic policy. They are focused more, they say, on what they see as a litany of recent victories.
From Politico:
Trump’s supporters are pretty worried about currency manipulation and other complicated economic issues.
Other Trump boosters worry that he’s ditching his economic agenda. They wonder why he backed off his vow to label China a currency manipulator, and are chagrined by his reversal on his position to eliminate the Export-Import Bank.
From the New York Times:
Trump’s supporters can’t stand to see him getting criticized all the time.
“That does tend to bond them to him — every day they see him attacked,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by the billionaire Koch brothers. The group has been canvassing voters recently in the suburban Atlanta district that will hold a special congressional election next week that many see as a bellwether for Mr. Trump’s popularity.
From Politico:
Trump’s supporters are criticizing him.
Conservative economist Stephen Moore, who also advised the Trump campaign, said he’s reached out to the White House about the lack of a tax package.
“They’re all over the map,” he said. “I don’t know if they’re listening or not.”
Michelle Dallacroce, an anti-immigration activist, is more pointed. Immigration is “why we voted for Donald Trump,” she said. “This could be the most elaborate reality show. I’m wondering, was this all an illusion for us, using our movement so he could get in there?”
Glad that’s been cleared up.