Trump supporters unwavering amid US President's crisis
WASHINGTON: In Washington, the chatter about a deepening, Watergate-style crisis has engulfed the White House - and those conversations are echoed in big cities across the country and in a succession of headlines that seem to suggest almost certain doom for the young Trump administration.
But for some Americans, including President Donald Trump's staunchest supporters, the "crisis in Washington" is not about possible missteps by Mr Trump or questions over whether his campaign colluded with Russia.
For them, it's the latest egregious example of mainstream media bias and of Washington insiders desperate to preserve their status and taking revenge on the New York businessman.
In such an intensely polarised political environment, that distrust of mainstream media makes it less likely that Trump supporters - and the Republican officeholders who rely on their votes - will abandon the president any time soon.
"The more negativity, the more we're for him. It's backfiring on them," Arizona resident Nadia Larsen said of media reports about possible collusion with Russia or Mr Trump's conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey.
More credible, Trump supporters say, is news from prominent conservative media outlets, such as Fox News and Breitbart.
Those outlets have cast the allegations as an ideological attack by Obama administration holdovers or deeply entrenched bureaucracy opposed to Trump.
Said Mr Jeff Klusmeier, an insurance agent in Kentucky: "I expected the media to attack Trump. I expected the Democrats to call for impeachment. So it's par for the course for me." - REUTERS
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