(Hi Buggsy)
Don't get thrown by the headline because the article is actually pretty fair
Trump works to maintain illusions of progress, as his main promises go unfulfilled
here's the key part about Trumpettes not holding Trump accountable and its spot on:
"While the president already is making “Promises kept” a slogan of his reelection campaign, Schlapp said Trump’s supporters are likely to give him the benefit of the doubt if some big promises remain unfulfilled.
“Maybe 50% of Americans look at Donald Trump as struggling to accomplish things, but the other 50% looks at him as willing to take on challenges other presidents weren't,” he said.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has toggled between taking credit and passing blame — often declaring, especially on Twitter, that “progress is being made” on issues while complaining about “obstructionist” Democrats fighting his agenda and “fake news” media not giving him credit.
“Trump is a grievance candidate, and I think that's the base of the support he has,” said Stuart Stevens, a longtime Republican strategist who helped guide Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign and has been consistently critical of Trump.
"We have a Republican president who's spent a lot of his presidency attacking the Constitution, attacking law and order, attacking the whole concept of personal responsibility,” Stevens said. “He’s soft on dictators and a professional victim. But it just makes people feel that whatever score they need settled, he's going to settle it.”
Yascha Mounk, a professor at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington and an expert on the worldwide rise of populism, believes it’s foolish to expect the president’s backers to punish him for overpromising and underdelivering.
“I don’t see why it would happen if it hasn’t yet,” Mounk said, though he noted that a severe economic downturn or other unexpected calamitous event could change that calculus.
“People are perfectly aware he lies all the time and that he boasts and probably delivers only on a fraction of those things. But because so many Americans have become deeply cynical and think that no politician ever delivers on their promises, they may discount what he promises but still think that that is a better bet than politicians who don't promise anything.”
Mounk added, “It’s essentially, ‘Well, he didn’t really bring back manufacturing jobs, but he tried.’”
