While the US political and media worlds have been abuzz with the latest details of the hack of Democratic National Committee emails apparently by Russian intelligence, and attendant speculation about Donald Trump’s links to Moscow and Vladimir Putin, the controversy has not yet filtered down to his supporters, if those attending a rally in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, are anything to go by.
Trump is by any measure the most pro-Russian presidential nominee in modern history. He has repeatedly praised Putin, even expressing the hope that the authoritarian Russian leader will be his best friend, while calling for a drastic rollback of the US’s role in the world and questioning American participation in Nato. Trump’s top campaign aide, Paul Manafort, has previously worked for pro-Russian politicians and oligarchs in Ukraine, and a watering down of the GOP position on the conflict there was reportedly the only big change the Trump campaign demanded to the platform last week in Cleveland.
But the DNC email scandal and Trump’s relationship with Russia barely penetrated a steamy fairground in Winston-Salem on Monday night, where Trump supporters in red hats lined up for hours in 100F (38C) heat to see the Republican nominee.
One of the more politically savvy attendees, Dr Ada Fisher, a longtime member of the Republican National Committee, saw political dirty tricks to undermine Trump. Fisher described the controversy to the Guardian as “a false flag to cover up [Clinton]’s transgressions” and “probably the biggest lie I’ve seen”.
There were mixed opinions on Putin. Madeline Kuettner of Winston-Salem was a fan. “I like him,” she said. “I think he’s doing the right thing … I just think he’s for the United States and I think he’s done a good job and I think if Trump [becomes] president they could work together.”
When asked if she had concerns about Putin’s invasion and occupation of the Crimea and eastern Ukraine, Kuettner said: “I don’t know. I’d have to find out, I don’t know.” She insisted though: “I think what he’s doing is helping out the situation with the refugees, all of that.”
In contrast, Dusty Taylor of Thomasville, North Carolina, thought Putin was “a communist” and “a dictator”. But he believed “it’s going to take someone like Trump get him more democracy in Russia”. Trump, however, indicated to the New York Times in a recent interview that he was not interested in promoting democracy abroad, saying: “I think right now when it comes to civil liberties, our country has a lot of problems, and I think it’s very hard for us to get involved in other countries.”
This view was echoed by others who trusted Trump’s approach to Russia simply because he wasn’t Clinton. Cody Moran of Randleman, North Carolina, said the former secretary of state wasn’t the right person to deal with Russia because “I don’t think anybody can trust her”. In contrast, he said: “Trump’s tough.” Trump’s negotiation skills were frequently raised, as well as his ability to make friends. As Danny Holt of Albemarle observed of Trump’s approach to Putin: “Why not say nice things about somebody? If you get along with him, it’s much better than not getting along with him and saying nasty things about somebody.”
The only attendee to express concern about the DNC hack was Eric Henderson, a city council candidate in Winston-Salem. “I don’t know if [Putin is] influencing for Trump or against Hillary Clinton,” but while he was willing to accept the help of any ally in the struggle against Clinton, he said: “I’d rather it not be the Russians.” Henderson added: “I’d very much prefer for it to be resolved domestically without the FBI involved.” The FBI is now investigating the hack.
Needless to say, none of the attendees had even heard of Manafort.
Some on Capitol Hill have already raised questions about whether Russia has been intervening on behalf of Trump. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said in a statement: “Given Donald Trump’s well-known admiration for Putin and his belittling of Nato, the Russians have both the means and the motive to engage in a hack of the DNC and the dump of its emails prior to the Democratic convention. That foreign actors may be trying to influence our election – let alone a powerful adversary like Russia – should concern all Americans of any party.”
Trump dismissed it all as “a weird conspiracy theory” when he touched on the subject briefly on Monday. Then he quickly pivoted and asked the crowd: “Wouldn’t it be nice if we did get along with Russia?”
