What it will take for Republican voters to abandon Trump

It will only happen when GOP elites see it in their own interest to jump ship

Donald Trump supporters in 2016.
(Image credit: Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Since January, America's major news outlets have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to documenting the persistent loyalty of President Trump's most fervent supporters. "In hardscrabble Midwestern town, faith in Trump is unflagging," reads the headline of approximately 18,000 articles published over the last four months. And it goes beyond those die-hards: While Trump's overall approval is mired in the low 40s, his approval among Republicans has stayed between 85 and 90 percent, about what recent presidents have come to expect from their own partisans.

But with Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey kicking the Russia scandal into high gear, is there any reason to believe that Republican voters — all of them, not just those who love him most intensely — won't stick behind President Trump?

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.