Republicans defend Trump after son's scandal

Republicans remain siding with the US President after information about his son's ties to Russia was revealed.

Donald Trump Jr., son of US President Donald Trump. Photo: Zuma

When Republican senators appeared on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 11, they were repeatedly asked what the newly released emails from Donald Trump Jr., the son of US President Donald Trump, revealed about the relationship between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Most simply shrugged and shook their heads, according to the Washington Post.

“We shouldn’t be distracted by things like this,” said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

“He (Donald Trump Jr.) has no business being in office,” said Utah Republican Senator Orrin G. Hatch. “I think it’s all blown out of proportion.”

"Donald Trump Jr. has done two things: He said he would be happy to talk to the Senate Intelligence Committee and answer questions, and he has been incredibly candid in releasing those emails," Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker said in a morning interview with Fox Business. "Is this the end of the world? No. Is this a terrible distraction that could take us further away from passing a health care bill? Yes. This is another small setback."

According to the email chain of the US President's eldest sonannounce,Rob Goldstone,The music patron and former business partner of the Trump family told Donald Trump Jr. in 2016, as the race for the White House was underway, that “a Russian Imperial prosecutor” had offered to “provide the Trump campaign with official documents and information” that would incriminate Hillary Clinton and her ties to Russia.Seventeen minutes later, Trump Jr. responded, welcoming the offer and asserting that he "would be happy to do it."

For Democrats, the information in Goldstone’s email to Trump Jr. is further evidence of “Russian government support for Trump.” But conservative media outlets are painting a completely different story of efforts to “destroy Trump” or “take down” the US president.

Republicans side with Trump

According to a Gallup Poll, Trump’s approval rating among Republicans has remained steady at 85 percent since February. Last week, before the new emails were released, another NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 73 percent of Republicans did not believe the president colluded with Russia to interfere in the election. Only 4 percent thought the White House chief did so illegally.

In conservative media, the incidents involving the US President's son were presented as conspiracy theories. On prime-time programming, shortly after the New York Times published the contents of emails exchanged between Trump Jr. andGoldstone, Fox News only reported the story as side information.

"The anti-Trump media wave is back and this time, it's worse than ever," said host Sean Hannity.

Utah Republican Senator Orrin G. Hatch surrounded by reporters on Capitol Hill on July 11. Photo: Washington Post

There have been many theories floating around in pro-Trump news. Fox's "The Five" co-host Jesse Watters has even speculated that the Clinton campaign was deliberately setting the Trump family up. Another theory is that Trump Jr., who has no political experience, made a mistake.

On July 11, the most popular choice among Republicans was to blame the Russia stories for distracting from the party's agenda.

"There's a lot of speculation about Trump and the Kremlin or Russian President Putin, and there's suspicions of collusion. But we haven't found anything yet," North Carolina Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger said in an interview with MSNBC.

In an interview with Fox Business, Senator Wicker also agreed with host Neil Cavuto that the scandal surrounding the US President's son was likely a distraction.

“That’s what the left loves, right?” Cavuto asked. “And that’s what Trump’s critics love, and maybe it’s an opportunity for them to make their agenda impossible to get done, right?”

“You are right,” Wicker replied. “I have nothing more to add.”

According to VNE