As unflattering Russia-related headlines dominate the news, Republicans will face new pressure to defend President Trump or desert him.
For now, most Republican elected officials have chosen a third option: keeping their heads down and their eyes on the policy agenda they share with Trump. Some of the president’s strongest supporters agree this is where their attention should be.
“We are focused on talking to the American people about the issues they care about, like repealing and replacing Obamacare, reforming our tax code to create more American jobs, and protecting our borders,” said Erin Montgomery, communications director for the pro-Trump American First Policies when asked if the group was planning anything in response to the latest spate of Russia coverage.
But the reports about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer during the campaign hit the White House closer to home than previous stories. Moreover, many Republicans in Washington who want to get tougher with Russia were as disappointed with the president’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as the Democrats — and a few were nearly as outspoken about it.
That’s not necessarily where rank-and-file Republicans — many of them suspicious of claims Trump is too cozy with Putin and angry the congressional GOP hasn’t put more legislation on his desk — find themselves. An NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll last week that found a majority of Americans think Trump did something illegal or unethical with Russia also showed 73 percent of Republicans believe the president did nothing wrong.
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The second Republican strategist said of GOP lawmakers, “This idea of partnering up with Russia on cybersecurity strikes most of them as insanity.”
“I do believe that as each of these meetings is revealed and that Trump or his people lied about them, Republican voters who were on the fence about him, but willing to give him a chance, are going to slowly peel away,” the strategist said.” They won’t vote for a Democrat, but they will stay home. I’m not sure Trump understands that.”
“Republicans in Congress are in a much more difficult position,” the strategist continued. “Trump was not the first choice of most of them, but now they’re stuck with him. I think they will continue to support him on issues like Obamacare repeal and tax reform, but he is making it easy for them to distance themselves from him politically. It will start as a trickle, but could wind up as a downpour.”
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Republicans face new pressure to defend Trump or desert him https://t.co/vwu7bHTa30 pic.twitter.com/PMLGPx8M6a
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 11, 2017
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