Why Do Republicans Continue to Support Trump?

For Insight, Look to Dems Defending Clinton in 1998

We keep seeing it. Trump is accused of wrongdoing. Democrats put their hands up to the sky and say “Finally, this is it! This is what eventually turns Republicans against Trump!” and then they watch in exasperation as everyone rallies around the former President.

Why?

It doesn’t seem to make any sense?

The people most confounded by it is Gen Z, who have never really witnessed anything like it. However, to everyone in Gen X, every allegation, every defense, the attacks and the responses all seem eerily familiar. It all harkens back to the way the Clinton Presidency played out.

The Clinton Years

For those who don’t remember, never experienced or who have buried 90s politics into a memory hole, the 90s political scene was not exactly bliss. The end of the ‘80s brought the end of the Cold War, no more Soviet menace, the Wall came down and new republics emerged. Bush Sr took Saddam out of Kuwait after about 100 hours and then faced a harsh recession that ruined his re-election.

In his place emerged a known philandering, admitted pot-smoking, gays in the military promoting former hippie named Bill Clinton.¹ After 12 years in control, Conservatives HATED this guy. He hadn’t even won a majority; if it weren’t for crazy Ross Perot running Bush would’ve won!² A cottage industry developed, smearing the Clintons for everything they’ve done their entire lives, while they were in government in Arkansas and now as President. It helped fuel the early burgeoning right wing radio ecosystem and led to the Speakership of Newt Gingrich.

The plan was simple; throw as much mud at the Clintons, all the time. Sooner or later something had to stick. Most of it was outlandish too. Supposedly Hillary Clinton had a close confidante Vince Foster killed?—Really?³ They were in a shady land deal with James and Susan McDougal called “Whitewater” and the whole reason the McDougals refused to talk was because they feared the “Clinton mob family?”—huh? TravelGate?— isn’t firing previous administration officials to make way for political cronies kind of the norm no matter who the President is? And it wasn’t restricted to the Clintons; Republicans went after dozens of Clinton appointees and cabinet nominees often over minor issues, blown way out of proportion, but receiving Independent Counsel appointments nonetheless.

Whitewater itself went through three different Independent Counsels, including two that came to the conclusion there was nothing there. It wasn’t until Ken Starr was appointed that things really took a bizarre turn. Bill Clinton had to appear in a deposition for a civil suit brought by a former affair, Paula Jones.⁴ After Clinton said he had no affair, Starr started looking into whether Clinton perjured himself. When news of Monica Lewinsky became known he threw himself and his investigation into all of it.⁵

But the thing is, with each individual allegation thrown at Clinton by Republicans, the harder Democrats defended Clinton and the more the allegations seemed more and more outrageous. They became noise in the background— a boy who cried wolf too many times. It no longer mattered how much of it was true or not; the economy was clicking, Clinton was doing a good job as President, and Republicans had thrown too much mud, too often to be believed. Clinton’s poll numbers inched upward. The American public just viewed everything leveled at Clinton as a partisan witchhunt with no substance backing it up.

Now, Clinton was eventually found to have had an affair and to have lied about it.⁶ But none of it had to do with how Clinton was doing the job of being President. Nobody really cared that he had an affair either, what they saw as a private matter and one that they didn’t want the details of on the evening news in full view of their kids asking them what oral sex was. They resented the GOP attempts to go after Clinton this way. It only made them defend him more. In the 1998 midterms, the result was that Dems gained seats in the Senate when usually that’s unheard of. It didn’t stop Republicans from impeaching him anyway, something most Americans just wanted over and to move on.

So what does this tell us about Trump and the GOP?

• People don’t really care Trump had affairs or paid off Stormy Daniels. As far as the public is concerned, this is likely very much a non-issue no matter how much Democrats love to laugh at it.

• They’re also not thrilled the way Democrats have thrown everything incuding the kitchen sink at Trump. Regardless of how true it may be, the constant tarring seems overdone, and when really horrendous conduct does materialize it fails to break through. Yes, Democrats are crying wolf and there happens to be one, many in fact; but forcing everyone to jump up and come and save the sheep every 15 minutes isn’t a solution either.

• The issues for which Trump was impeached for (withholding appropriated aid and shaking down Ukraine for dirt on a political opponent and for conduct on January 6th) were righteous, and directly related to how Trump governed as President. This makes it more substantive than for what Clinton was impeached for but the result is the same; most Republicans just view it as partisan in nature. It won’t matter, history will judge this correctly as major infractions deserving of impeachment.

• The classified documents indictments and the attempt to overturn the Georgia election are very serious and very legitimate indictments. Trump should have to answer for these issues. The problem is that coupled with everything else thrown at him, it gets lost in the background as just another partisan witchhunt. It’s easy for Republicans to set aside.

The Clinton era set the standard for the modern media sensationalism and scandal 24/7 news cycle. It’s been like this largely since then. What does it show? Mainly that both parties would be more effective at leveling effective charges against the other (when it is warranted) when they pick and choose their battles better and restrict the mudthrowing to legitimate reasons for concern.

As many a Democrat will attest of those times, they feel regret for defending Clinton as much as they did. Clinton was clearly a morally flawed individual who didn’t deserve so much acclaim as he got. They don’t regret defending him for most of the trash thrown his way, but certainly do about Monica Lewinsky and many of the things they said about her in his defense. They feel ashamed at how they bought into Clinton’s lie about the whole affair. In retrospect, he deserved the slap on the wrist and then some.

When it comes to Trump, we should all hope Republicans come to that realization sooner rather than later as well. Trump is not deserving of their love or adoration. We can only pray that happens before November 2024.

PurpleAmerica Recommended Stories

Joe Klein wrote one of the greatest political roman a clef’s ever when he Anonymously penned “Primary Colors” in 1997. A veiled reference to the Clintons in the 1992 campaign, it is almost required reading. It was eventually made into a film starring John Travolta that is good but misses so much of the nuance of it.⁷

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

Monica Lewinsky, despite everything she went through, does have a grace and good humor about what she endured. Its a very positive outlook we all should strive for.

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. Clinton was EVERYTHING Republicans hated about the left.

2. In their minds. However, studies have always shown Perot stole votes from both parties roughly equally.

3. Vince Foster was a Clinton attorney who became White House Counsel and committed suicide.

4. Jones’ allegations were known before Clinton became President, and although he did not admit to the affair with Jones at first, he had admitted to one with Gennifer Flowers.

5. It should be noted that even though Starr’s Report led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton, it failed to find anything criminal related to Whitewater by the Clintons. Both James and Susan McDougal served 3 years in prison for contempt, with James McDougal dying in prison.

6. Clinton’s defense to this was “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” It was probably enough to escape a perjury charge but everyone knew that he lied and he was disbarred in Arkansas for it.

7. The story is told from the perspective of a political operative loosely based on George Stephanopolous. So it was downright eerie when the movie came out and my friends and I went to see it at Washington’s Uptown Theater that Stephanopolous was standing in line right in front of us.