WASHINGTON— Voters in Midwest states described fatigue as a reason why they tune out the investigations related to the Trump administration and Russia, but Democrats insist the American people want the Russia probes to continue. NBC News spoke to various constituents who appear to be growing tired of the investigations.
“People are making too much of it,” said Jim Wagner of Dubuque, Iowa and Vietnam veteran. Wagner went on to say, “I don’t think there was really anything going on. I just wish [Trump] would shut everybody up and tell them instead of playing the game. I didn’t vote for him, but if he can put it to bed, he ought to.”
Cara Suebbel told NBC News, “You just don’t know what to believe,” She added, “There’s things coming up on all sides and people spin stories to fit their political agenda, so their readers will pick it up. It’s weird that he’s so close to Russia, but I don’t know if it’s my biggest concern at the moment.”
Strong supporters of Trump that NBC spoke to say Trump is not getting a fair shake while others want to focus on more domestic issues.
“I need to be concerned about here,” said Dennis Roth, a sales manager in Dubuque. “And then I might have time to be concerned about overseas. There’s a lot going on, but I can’t control that. I’m more concerned about the people in Dubuque.”
“They wanted Donald Trump to make change and are growing weary [of] the Democrats and media obstruction,” Kyle Hupfer, Indiana GOP chairman told Real Clear Politics. “They expect folks to be a lot more cooperative than they’re being.”
However, Democrats say Americans have a voracious appetite for all things related to the Russia investigations.
“The country cares about the country. I’m not worried about that,” Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray told The Daily Caller of investigation fatigue.
Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon White House agreed saying, “Nobody ever fatigues of investigation while they’re producing stuff.”
Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told TheDC that the investigations are still in their early stages.
“We just had the appointment of the special counsel within the last two weeks and they’ll be thoroughly investigating all aspects of this from potential collusion to any potential obstruction of justice to some of the financial dealings,” he said.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Corey Booker insisted the investigations are all “very substantive.”
“I think that it’s all very substantive things that are being investigated right now. I don’t think there is any investigation fatigue. I think there are legitimate concerns that not only the American people have but, frankly, senators on both sides of the aisle have,” Booker told TheDC.
Stu Rothenberg, senior editor at Inside Elections, however, told National Public Radio Monday that there is a good chance of investigation fatigue setting in during the Russia probes.
“One of the things I believed for many weeks and months is that [Trump] has to worry about the fatigue factor on the American public. I remember thinking back to Bill Clinton and all the drama in the Clinton White House. And after a while, people thought, ay yi yi, another thing we have,” Rothenberg said. “Oy gevalt, as we say. This is the same kind of thing. It’s — there is another crisis every day. And after a while, people just — they don’t want that. They want things to return to normal.”
