Opinion | Why Donald Trump is the new Teflon president that America needs now

Michael Chugani says the US president’s steady approval ratings, despite the scandals surrounding him, show he is not only telling people what they want to hear but that his policies have merit

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US President Donald Trump speaks during a political rally in Charleston, West Virginia, on August 21. A recent poll showed 86 per cent of Republicans support Trump. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:00am, 6 Sep 2018Updated: 2:36am, 7 Sep 2018

What does it take for some dirt, even a tiny speck, to stick to US President Donald Trump? His name is synonymous with all things decent people abhor – racism, bigotry, blatant lies, and sexism. Never mind sordid revelations of his past, what he has said and done as candidate and president would have sunk any other president.

Bill Clinton went through hell to survive revelations of his affair with a White House intern. Trump didn’t suffer a single hair out of place from countless scandals that include hush money to lovers, his boast about groping women, and interference with an inquiry into possible election-campaign-related collusion with Russia.

Wasn’t Ronald Reagan supposed to be the ultimate Teflon president? Trump has not only snatched that crown away, he wears it with a gloat. Scandals slide off him without a serious dent in his approval ratings. It defies logic.

A Harvard-Harris poll survey showed 86 per cent of Republicans support him. And 46 per cent of Americans still approve of his job performance even though the poll came after his former lawyer revealed Trump instructed him to pay a lover hush money.

An ABC/The Washington Post poll showed 53 per cent strongly disapproved of Trump’s job performance and almost half favoured impeachment. But a Rasmussen poll showed 48 per cent approved of Trump and 50 per cent disapproved.