Democrats hope to swing moderates who voted for President Donald Trump, but their "nonstop, over-the-top attacks on Trump are not peeling those voters away from him; they are pushing them further into the president's camp," according to The Washington Post's Marc Thiessen.
Thiessen, after listing the many attacks on Trump from prominent liberal figures and celebrities like Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., TV host Samantha Bee and actor Robert De Niro, asks: "how do liberals think that 20 percent of reluctant Trump voters respond to these displays of unbridled contempt?
"They are outraged not at Trump but at his critics. The unhinged hatred for the president makes these voters almost reflexively defend him."
He then notes that The New York Times recently interviewed people from across the country, and found that many Republicans feel a desire to defend Trump following the attacks on him.
"He's not a perfect guy; he does some stupid stuff," said Tony Schrantz, 50, of Minnesota. "But when they're hounding him all the time it just gets old. Give the guy a little."
"These are exactly the voters Democrats are hoping to win back. Instead, they are doing the opposite.
"Polls bear this out. Two weeks ago, Trump's Gallup approval rating hit 45 percent — the highest it has been since his inauguration. (It slipped slightly to 41 percent last week). Trump's approval among Republicans is at a near-record 87 percent, comparable to the levels of support for George W. Bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
"Think about that: The left's attacks on Trump have had the same rallying effect for GOP voters as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."
Thiessen concludes: "Spasms of anti-Trump outrage are not going to win them back. If anything, they are confirming these voters' conclusions that Democrats still don't get it — and don't get them. The left's miasma of contempt may feel cathartic, but it is the best thing that ever happened to Trump. Indeed, it may very well get him reelected."
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