Trump Supporters Thrive on the Drama, and Endanger National Security

Today, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz engaged in a political stunt by leading a group of about thirty Republican House members to storm into the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility ("SCIF") where the House Judiciary Committee was to take the deposition of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, Laura Cooper, endangering national security in the process.  The SCIF is a facility set up to permit members of Congress to receive classified information concerning national security while keeping the information secure.  No electronic devices are permitted inside the hearing room.  A special room outside of the hearing room exits so everyone who enters the hearing room can lock up their cell phones and other electronic devices.

Nonetheless, Gaetz and his Republican cohorts violated protocol, storming into the hearing room uninvited without locking up their electronic devices.  Indeed, a tweet appeared on Gaetz Twitter account celebrating the intrusion.  After Chairman Adam Schiff abruptly ended the proceedings, the SCIF had to be swept to ensure no electronic devices that could spy on the hearings had been left behind.  As Mieke Eoyang, Vice President for the Third Way's National Security Program (@MiekeEoyang) reported on her Twitter account, many members of Congress are targets for foreign intelligence due to what they know about national security.  Yet, at the same time some Congress members fail to observe strict steps to secure their sensitive conversations. Knowing what is discussed within the SCIF would be a boon to foreign adversaries, says Eoyang, which is why breaching protocol by bringing electronic devices into the hearing room is such a danger to national security.

Despite the threat to national  security, Trump supporters are likely to be thrilled with Gaetz's brazen political stunt.  Hard core Trump supporters thrive on the drama, regardless of the threat to the nation, both from hostile foreign entities, and from the autocratic tendencies of the chief executive and his administration.  Indeed, Trump supporters love the "in your face" combative tactics that Trump and his defenders have adopted in opposition to the current impeachment inquiry.

Trump supporters have long memories.  Their unwavering loyalty can be traced back to the Impeachment of President Bill Clinton.  Clinton was, of course, caught lying whiles testifying under oath about a sexual encounter with a White House intern.  He was impeached for perjury, however, the Democrats rallied behind their President.  As a result, Clinton survived the removal trial in the Senate.  Conservative voters decried how the Democrats could continue to support a man, nicknamed Slick Willie for his perceived dishonesty.  As successive Republican leaders, such as Newt Gingrich and Bob Livingston, resigned from Congress amid marital infidelity allegations, conservative talk show hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh, lamented that Republicans would rather throw their leaders under the bus than stand up and fight when such allegations were made. 

When Trump came along in the middle of the 2016 Republican presidential nomination campaign, he turned the event into a slugfest.  He slapped his opponents with derogatory nicknames, like Little Marco Rubio, and Lyin' Ted Cruz, that injected drama for low information voters, who otherwise found the crowded field of candidates uninteresting.  Conservative voters had found a candidate who could fight, and who would enjoy their undying support.  Trump was, in essence, their Bill Clinton.

Indeed, the support from Trump from these voters was so strong, it didn't matter that his White House was reported to be in chaos, it didn't matter that Trump would blab highly confidential intelligence to Russian officials, and, of course, it didn't matter that Trump was willing to engage in lawlessness, such as obstructing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election on several occasions.

Those same supporters blindly defend Trump, despite what factual evidence of his wrong doings emerge.  Despite public statements by Trump that he asked a foreign leader for dirt on a political opponent, their support is undying.  The release of the memorandum of his telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirming that asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter did not change their minds.  Even with evidence piling up indicating that Trump was withholding military aid to Ukraine, approved by Congress, until the Ukrainian Government would announce that it had opened that investigation, Trump supporters still believe his claims that the phone call was "perfect."

When Acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, admitted in a press conference that the flow of funds was held up until Ukraine made steps to combat corruption, which in the President's mind included the investigation, core Trump supporters' loyalty never wavered.  After admitting the facts that make up the quid pro quo, Mulvaney infamously told the press corps, "get over it."  While Washington pundits continue to buzz about the admission, it has hardly moved any hard core Trump supporters.  Within days, Mulvney's admonition to the press to "get over it"  found itself emblazoned on t-shirts for sale on Trump's 2020 campaign website.   (Research has shown that t-shirt saying, "I voted for Trump, Get Over It" were available through the website even before Mulvaney's press conference.  However, I could not find the simple "Get Over It" alone on a t-shirt until after Mulvaney's said it to the press.)  Despite Mulvaney's admission of the President's gross illegality and abuse of power, Trump supporters could themselves get "in your face" with a defiant message, indicating Trump was still their man, no matter his outrageous offenses.

Trump supporters just don't care about the threat to national security when it comes to being loyal to "their man."  Trump supporters did not protest Trump's tweeting of a classified spy satellite image taken of an Iranian rocket installation.  They do not protest Trump's continual discrediting of the U.S. intelligence community.  They don't mind that Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in secret multiple times.  Certainly, they won't mind now that Representative Gaetz has led so many Republican representatives to breach security protocol in such an audacious manner.  Indeed, his political stunt plays right into their wheelhouse, having show that they prefer the drama and confrontation that is the hallmark of the Trump Administration.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.