Republicans set to vote in a crucial special congressional election are sticking by President Trump and Karen Handel, the GOP nominee, unmoved by the daily drumbeat of scandal from the White House.
In interviews Wednesday, Republicans in this upscale Atlanta suburb said they weren't concerned about the Senate testimony of James Comey or implications that Trump acted improperly in firing him as FBI director because of a desire to kill an investigation into his possible Russia ties.
Although there is lingering discomfort with Trump's habit of opining and picking fights on Twitter, staunch Republicans here generally view the president as a Washington outsider who is learning on the job and will get better.
They expect he'll have more bumps in the road in the months ahead, but that isn't diminishing their support for him or, significantly, Handel, who is running to fill the area's vacant House seat in a toss-up campaign.
"He could tone down the tweets and put more emphasis on the issues. But the issues that he's pushing forward are issues I support," said Bob Anderson, 70, who voted for Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Georgia's 2016 Republican presidential primary. "I don't think that there's any pro-Russian agenda on the part of the Trump administration, and I think that's been demonstrated so far."
Get the Exclusive
05.01.2024