The recently surfaced allegations that President Trump had sex with porn star Stormy Daniels, after which his lawyer paid her $130,000 not to tell anyone is causing a scandal that threatens to hurt the GOP’s midterm chances, asserts Stephen Collinson of CNN. Questions about whether all of this is true and whether Trump knew about the payment to Daniels risk damaging his reputation, particularly among women. They will be crucial in many of the suburban district elections in 2018. Trump’s approval rating among women is already low, having fallen to 32% in 2017. The Stormy Daniels affair could have dire political consequences for him.

While shocking, the rumors that President Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels are unlikely to affect his extremely loyal fanbase, holds Ryan Teague Beckwith of Time. For any other politician this might be a career-ending scandal, but Trump has weathered similar storms and still come out on top. Stories about him having an affair with a former Playboy model and 18 women accusing him of sexual misconduct have shown to be unable to shake his support. Even Evangelical voters are now looking the other way from Trump’s sexual past, accepting him no matter what. Like allegations that surfaced before, this probably won’t hurt him politically.