Many a pundit has noted this week that while Washington is consumed with the Russia story, it's not resonating much in the rest of America, which is understandably more concerned with healthcare coverage at the moment. But NPR's Don Gonyea reported Wednesday that Trump supporters in Pennsylvania used the word "nothingburger" to describe Don Jr.’s Kremlin meeting more than half a dozen times within an hour of interviews. In fact, Trump's base is reveling in all this talk of treason and collusion and conspiracy.
GONYEA: For those who back his father, this latest controversy is another opportunity to rally behind the Trump name, both father and son. And there's a phrase you hear over and over from these supporters.
MELANIE PATTERSON: Well, when I first heard it, I laughed again. Once again, I think it's a big nothing burger with zero calories.
GONYEA: That's Melanie Patterson of Belle Vernon in southwest Pennsylvania, an important corner in a state vital to Trump's November victory. She operates rental properties. Her husband runs a small manufacturing firm. She says it's no big deal that Trump Jr. met with a Russian attorney, arguing, who wouldn't if there was a chance to get the goods on an opponent?
Well, someone who didn't want to do jail time, for one. Or maybe someone who had read a smidge of 20th century history. Or how about a patriot, which is defined as "a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors."
But not Patterson. "Who cares if these people were from Russia, China or Florida?" she says, adding that she finds the whole thing rather "amusing." And she isn’t alone, Trump voters in Michigan gave a Vox reporter similarly nonchalant responses, while a Vox poll released Tuesday found the vast majority of Trump supporters think the Russia story is nonsense.
Eighty-four percent of respondents who said they approve of Trump thought the Russia scandal was more of a distraction.
Apparently, the notion of conducting a free and fair election that allows the American people to elect their leader rather than a foreign power is pretty laughable to Trump supporters.