Let it be known that President Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party, can be said to represent the party's ideals. He's the party's most visible fixture. And, if there's one thing to take away from a recent Gallup poll — one overarching theme that goes beyond the simple "how many Americans dislike the president today" format of most polls — it's that Republicans are happy to admit that they're behind Trump, as soon as the dust settles from Trump's bad headlines.
Nine in 10 Republicans said they approve of the job that Trump is doing, which, according to Gallup, is Trump's highest rating since he took office.
The report of highly partisan support of Trump arrives just as he has been embroiled in some of the deepest conflicts of his administration. He has effectively declared war on the FBI and Department of Justice because they are investigating him. And Republicans are looking the other way. Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives, has deferred to Trump on pretty much every hot-button issue. Trump's war on the FBI? Well, it's about "holding our government accountable."
What about immigration, an issue on which Trump has delivered contradictory positions and has refused to take the lead? Well, Paul Ryan says that Trump is going to lead the way on immigration — somehow.
On the issue of trust, Republicans are just fine with Trump. More than 8 in 10 Republicans — 84 percent — said that they "can trust President Trump to do what is right," according to a Quinnipiac University poll. That's 20 points more than the courts; only 65 percent of Republicans said they could trust the court system to "do what is right."
So much for institutions.
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