Trump fans in R.I. stand firm

SCITUATE — Most mornings, Joe Printer and Paul Lagerstrom, longtime friends who live in Foster, meet in Scituate for coffee. Though they must cross the town line for the nearest Dunkin' Donuts, the political landscape of the two communities is as indistinguishable as their stone walls.

This pastoral corner of Rhode Island historically votes conservative; both Scituate and Foster voted heavily for Trump in 2016, and both Printer, 83, and Lagerstrom, 78, supported the man now in the Oval Office.

But by this week — as Trump decried the Democrats’ impeachment probe against him, and his decision to leave the U.S.-allied Kurds unprotected from Turkish aggression drew bipartisan condemnation — Printer's support for Trump had waned.

“I’ll tell you right now, if he goes in for another four years, we’re in deep trouble,” said Printer. “He scares me. He doesn’t take advice from anybody. He has an ego this big and if he gets impeached and is thrown out of office, look out in Moscow and in Turkey. Both of them will have a Trump Tower there. Guaranteed.”

“No, No!” replied Lagerstrom.

All that talk about Trump asking the Ukrainian president to dig up dirt on his opponent Joe Biden and his son? “I don’t believe that,” said Lagerstrom. “They haven’t proved anything.”

Besides, said Lagerstrom, Trump’s actions aren't the problem in Washington; it’s that do-nothing Congress: “I just wish they could work together for the good of the country. Never mind all this crap.”

Ask a dozen Trump supporters around here their feelings about what some are calling an unfolding constitutional crisis in Washington, and you're likely to hear more people agree with Lagerstrom than his good friend Printer.

They dismiss any Trump criticism as Democratic sour grapes because Hillary Clinton lost in 2016, and describe Trump's behavior, which perhaps even they consider sometimes offensive, more a minor matter of personal style. Rather than fixate on the "media drama," they say, look at all the good he's doing for the country.

Town Council member Barbara Frederickson, who works down Chopmist Hill Road at the Frederickson Farms Stove Store, said, “To me it’s a lot of chaos out there. I don’t listen to all that talk and babble."

She voted for Trump in 2016 and will “absolutely” again next year. “There’s a lot of things he’s supportive of, like agriculture and the environment.”

What about those allegations of Trump soliciting favors from foreign leaders for his reelection bid? “I don’t have opinions about that,” Frederickson said.

About 30 members of the Scituate Republican Town Committee met last Monday night for their regular meeting. “We had no conversation whatsoever” about the ongoing impeachment proceedings, said committee chairwoman Theresa Yeaw. “Absolutely zero. Everybody is hyper-focused on Scituate issues.”

Personally, “I don’t believe he came out and asked point blank” for the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden’s son and his dealings in that country. “If there was a crime they would have charged him with a crime already. And given him an opportunity to answer for that crime and defend himself.”

Reminded that a sitting president cannot be indicted for a crime, Yeaw said, “This is a 2020 election stunt. Another one. They [the Democrats] have been preaching an impeachment process since he was elected. I think the Democrats are doing just whatever they can” to unseat Trump "because they don't have anyone who can beat him."

Asked if she approved of the president allegedly asking Ukraine and China to investigate a political opponent, Yeaw said: “Well, I don’t know if that would be my style, but he has his own style of doing things. And do we have all the facts?”

“It’s unprecedented the things he’s accomplished,” Yeaw said. “I wanted him to drain the swamp. I wanted him to try to reform health care. I wanted him to improve the economy, to improve unemployment, to make us safe in the world around us. And yes, I believe he is still on the right track.”

Linda Lambert, 65, of Foster, stood outside the Scituate Convenience Store, taking an afternoon break from her bus driver job.

 “I voted for him and I’ll vote for him again, because he’s done things," she said. "With all the stuff against him, he still keeps pushing to get things done, which amazes me. It’s like, why not just give up with all they’re doing to him?”

"They" being desperate Democrats, she said.

Even if Trump did ask foreign leaders to interfere with U.S. elections, “I would vote for him again,” she repeated, “even with all the antics.”

Dennis Rambone, a 60-year-old farmer from Foster, came out of the coffee shop saying: "Don't get me going. ... I mean look what Hillary did?” destroying 30,000 emails. "Come on! There’s no comparison.”

So what if he was asking Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens and any alleged corruption? “That’s his right as the leader of this country to see what’s going on.”

John Amore, 71, of Scituate agrees the means justify the ends if Trump exposed "that son of a gun" Biden.

Sitting in the Cold Brook Cafe under his Make America Great Again cap, Amore said there are closet Trump supporters out there, people who see his Trump bumper stickers on his pickup and flash him the thumbs-up sign — "though you'd never get them to admit it."

“You have only half a brain” if you oppose Trump, Amore said. “You’re making money in the stock market, right? Everybody’s working. Go look at all the driveways being repaved in Scituate. That’s all extra money that people never had before. I’ve never seen so many driveways being done.”

And abandoning protection of the Kurds, who fought with the United States to defeat ISIS terrorists in Syria?

“What are we going to do, stay there 100 years?" he asked. "They will figure it out.”

Amore, who relishes his hours following the news of who Trump has beaten down that day, said, "I wish he was in there for 20 more years. I’d vote for him 100 times.”

Back at Dunkin' Donuts, Joe Printer and Paul Lagerstrom say they've struck a difficult deal in these bitterly divisive times: to agree to disagree, politely, for the sake of their friendship.

“I respect his opinion and he respects mine,” said Lagerstrom.

To prove his point, he fished around in the back of his pickup truck and pulled out his red hat with the name TRUMP emblazoned on the front.

“Out of respect for Joe, I won’t wear it around him.”

— tmooney@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @mooneyprojo