GOP lawmakers feel like 'prisoners' who have no choice but to stand by Trump no matter what: report

Republican lawmakers who are privately disgusted with President Donald Trump's tweets attacking hospitalized protesters are still unlikely to publicly break with them because they fear doing so will jeopardize their own chances at reelection.

The Washington Post reports that "Republicans see themselves as prisoners" who have no choice but to stand by the president no matter what he does because they don't want to risk losing the votes of his most ardent supporters.

"I continue to believe that there’s really no political upside to running away from [Trump]," explained Brendan Buck, who has in the past worked for former GOP House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner. "You gain nothing and you raise the ire of not just the president but people who support him."

However, longtime GOP pollster Frank Luntz cautioned that Trump's approach to governing has deeply isolated millions of voters who could make the GOP pay this fall.

"He’s got 40 percent of the country completely enthralled with him," Luntz said. "This is not a lexicon that gets you elected. This is a lexicon that gets you to 45 percent and not more."