Just as the news media missed the boat in predicting the outcome of the 2016 election, their behavior in 2017 have shown they’ve learned absolutely nothing. On Monday’s Morning Joe, the MSNBC panel was flabbergasted that the new ABC News/Washington Post poll found only two percent of President Trump’s voters regret voting for him.
Floored by the “remarkable number,” the liberals and pseudo-Republicans attempted to explain away the number and infer that it was much higher because Trump voters wouldn’t be forthcoming with pollsters.
Co-host Joe Scarborough kicked things off, telling panelist Mark Halperin:
But when I saw in the first poll that I read yesterday morning, I think it was the ABC/Washington Post poll that 96 percent of people who voted for Trump are glad they voted for Trump and two percent are not glad they voted for Trump. If you're Donald Trump, you're saying, okay, I've done pretty damn well to go with my base. People go, yeah, that's enough to beat Hillary. No, the first thing you do in American politics is you hold your base and you win the nomination for your party and then you get a chance to run again. I would think that two percent would have been closer to 10 or 15 percent.
Both Halperin and Scarborough blurted out the word “remarkable” and Halperin fretted that “there’s a tale of two Americans now” as “[t]he people who voted for him still happy with him, giving him a chance, but his numbers, as Mika said, overall are not enough to have sway with Congress or to get things done.”
“[T]he reason I was shocked by that, John Heilemann, it does have an impact if you have a gerrymandered House and you have districts that [are] overwhelmingly Republican. If Donald Trump is getting 96 percent, you know, support from people who supported for him in districts he won by 70 percent, those House Republicans aren’t going to move away from him,” Scarborough replied (even if senators will).
Author and frequent panelist John Heilemann added that this means the President is “not in free fall” and “not collapsing and it's also the number that says Donald Trump can't do any of the large, big, ambitious things that he’d like to do.”
Co-host Mika Brzezinski read from NBC’s own poll and then the ABC poll statistic about how few Trump voters have dumped him. Brzezinski and Scarborough continued to express their amazement:
SCARBOROUGH: Mika, how can that just be two percent?
BRZEZINSKI: I’m supri — I mean, just anecdotally we're asking Trump voters just everywhere, they are wavering —
SCARBOROUGH: They are wavering.
BRZEZINSKI: — but maybe they still support him. Maybe they’re wavering but they still support him.
After more than enough complaining, Scarborough suggested that it probably is high since “[m]aybe they don't want to say to the pollsters” and “it’s a tale of in the first month, we love him” whereas, in his mind, its eroded since then.
The wealthy, current New England resident then hilariously tried to claim he’s personally heard from “a lot of Trump voters that at first month said hell, yeah, we’re with him are gosh, I wish the guy would just focus.”
Heilemann agreed, replying:
But that really is the difference between wavering and abandonment, right? I think a lot — we hear people are concerned, worried, wavering but they’re not yet — they’re not yet the point of Republicans. Yes, supporters of Trump but they’re not yet ready to say I've washed my hands of this guy. He's a failure. They are not there yet.
Here’s the relevant portion of the transcript from MSNBC’s Morning Joe on April 24:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
April 24, 2017
6:03 a.m. Eastern
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Before we go into subgroups. Mark Halperin, I'm sure you'll disagree with me as does the entire Twitter universe. But when I saw in the first poll that I read yesterday morning, I think it was the ABC/Washington Post poll that 96 percent of people who voted for Trump are glad they voted for Trump and two percent are not glad they voted for Trump. If you're Donald Trump, you're saying, okay, I've done pretty damn well to go with my base. People go, yeah, that's enough to beat Hillary. No, the first thing you do in American politics is you hold your base and you win the nomination for your party and then you get a chance to run again. I would think that two percent would have been closer to 10 or 15 percent.
MARK HALPERIN: It's one of the remarkable numbers.
SCARBOROUGH: That’s remarkable number.
HALPERIN: And it's certainly because there's a tale of two Americas now. The people who voted for him still happy with him, giving him a chance. But his numbers, as Mika said, overall are not enough to have sway with Congress or to get things done. This is a big week for him.
SCARBOROUGH: Except —
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Huge week.
SCARBOROUGH: — except and again, for people going, I mean, the reason I was shocked by that, John Heilemann, it does have an impact if you have a gerrymandered House and you have districts that overwhelmingly Republican. If Donald Trump is getting 96 percent, you know, support from people who supported for him in districts he won by 70 percent, those House Republicans aren’t going to move away from him. The senators will. Joni Ernst will. But that number right there is significant because he holds onto support in the House.
JOHN HEILEMANN: This is the number that says Donald Trump is not collapsing and it's also the number that says Donald Trump can't do any of the large, big, ambitious things that he’d like to do. They are both true. He's not in free fall. There's a time a few weeks ago where we thought, well, he could be down in the mid-30s.
SCARBOROUGH: When he was like 34, 35 percent? That’s free fall.
HEILEMANN: He gets there, then he's be in free fall and people who would be his normal supporters in Congress start to say, hey, you have no ability it sway me, you have no way intimidate me, forget about you, buddy. Right now he's for the in collapse but he's equally not able to do anything large at this level.
SCARBOROUGH: Exactly.
BRZEZINSKI: He's got this big marker coming up. So among subgroups in NBC poll, the president has a positive 85 point net approval rating among his own voters and a 69 point rating among Republicans but he is at negative 23 points with independents, a number that was only negative 10 back in February and as we just showed, when Trump voters were asked by The Washington Post poll about their decision to back him, only two percent regret their support.
SCARBOROUGH: Mika, how can that just be two percent?
BRZEZINSKI: I’m supri — I mean, just anecdotally we're asking Trump voters just everywhere, they are wavering —
SCARBOROUGH: They are wavering.
BRZEZINSKI: — but maybe they still support him. Maybe they’re wavering but they still support him.
SCARBOROUGH: Maybe they don't want to say to the pollsters. Again, it’s a tale of in the first month, we love him. Second month, you know, and now into the third month, I'm hearing a lot of Trump voters that at first month said hell, yeah, we’re with him are gosh, I wish the guy would just focus.
HEILIEMANN: But that really is the difference between wavering and abandonment, right? I think a lot — we hear people are concerned, worried, wavering but they’re not yet — they’re not yet the point of Republicans. Yes, supporters of trump but they’re not yet ready to say I've washed my hands of this guy. He's a failure. They are not there yet.
