'A challenge with the American right': Columnist reveals how Trump's supporters don't grasp 'basic facts'

Washington Post columnist Aaron Blake highlighted the evolving thoughts of Republican voters now that Donald Trump has been federally indicted – and the persistence of willful ignorance.

Blake began with Newsmax host Greg Kelly claiming that one of the Department of Justice's photos of the spilled box holding classified documents doesn't actually show anything that's top secret.

"There’s not one classified thing in there," the Newsmax host claimed. "It’s just a bunch of newspapers and pictures and stuff!”

In the center of the photo that shows dozens of binders and papers is clearly seen a redacted document.

Still, Blake pointed out that the polls show Republicans are also more likely to believe that Trump cooperated with law enforcement that wanted the documents back.

In fact, recent YouGov polls cite Republicans believe 53-15 that Trump "cooperated in returning documents." That poll also shows that 59 percent of Trump's voters believe he is "honest and trustworthy," with 57 percent of Republicans as a whole thinking the same.

That compares to a Nov. 2022 YouGov poll that shows 64 percent of Trump voters and 63 percent of Republicans found him to be trustworthy and honest.

"When your opponent is so popular the voters don’t care if he gets indicted, your problem isn’t the indictment. It’s his popularity," commentator Josh Barro wrote Thursday.

Blake wrote that the inability to accept the facts is widespread among the many who are backing Trump.

"One of the most significant hurdles to a public resolution is arriving at a shared set of basic facts and priorities. And that’s particularly a challenge with the American right," he said.

Subpoena and search warrants needed for the FBI to retrieve the documents, however, negates the belief that Trump worked with the government to make sure they were returned. It has become a key reason that Republicans like the GOP Miami mayor said he would have "done things differently." Namely, he would have handed over the documents from the start.

It's what President Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence did, but a majority of Republicans don't believe Biden cooperated with the FBI and DOJ. In Jan. 2022, Republicans said Biden didn’t cooperate (38 percent). In reality, the Biden documents only surfaced because his staff self-reported that they found the documents.

One of the data points that Blake found most disturbing is that Republicans say Trump having nuclear documents is not a security risk to the United States. It's a question that is being discussed among lawmakers on Capitol Hill, however.

Blake pointed to the evolving poll numbers showing that in Jan. 2023, 66 percent of Republicans said that Trump never had any classified documents. The indictment says that he did and included them in photos.

"A February Quinnipiac poll showed just 48 percent of Republicans believed Trump had intentionally held on to the documents, compared to 71 percent who said the same of Biden," he also cited.

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