Trump supporters. (VOA)

In his frequent appearances on “The Stephanie Miller Show,” former intelligence officer Malcolm Nance, often says that when President Richard Nixon stepped down, he was still popular with a segment of the country. According to the American Presidency Project, Nixon had a 66 percent disapproval rating in August 1974, when he resigned. But 24 percent of the country still approved of him. So even after all the firings, secret tapes and Deep Throat’s leaks to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, about one-quarter of the country still liked Nixon.

President Donald Trump’s situation is much worse. Even after daily news exposing that members of his campaign staff were in bed with Russia, food lines and a shutdown that cost the country $6 billion, Trump has an 88 percent approval rating among Republicans.

I’ve stopped musing on when these folks are going to turn on him. Cult 45 members have drunk the kool-aid and will go down with the ship. Case in point, Charles and Jill Gilbert, two prison guards who were victims of the shutdown, told CNN they still backed Trump.

On Planet Trump, the president is doing great. In the right-wing media’s eyes, the shutdown was a victory and the Russia investigation is a “witch hunt.” Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney claimed Trump was “winning the battle on the border.”

It’s hard for people who aren’t part of Cult 45 to understand why Trump supporters are still fervently behind him. However, you have to understand that these people listen to alternative facts from an alternative universe — the right-wing echo chamber.

On Planet Trump, the president is doing great. In the right-wing media’s eyes, the shutdown was a victory and the Russia investigation is a “witch hunt.” Neo-Nazi Sebastian Gorka called Trump’s decision to give into the Democrats a “masterstroke.”

That might be laughable to liberals, but a lot of people actually believe FOX News is “fair and balanced” (an inside joke) and the mainstream media has it out to for Trump.

FOX News is not a news network, it’s a PR arm of the Republican Party. FOX News’ message rarely diverges from the GOP’s. And at times, it’s hard to figure out where FOX ends and where the GOP begins. Trump has hired several former FOX News employees, including Bill Shine, who was fired for covering up former FOX CEO Roger Ailes’ sex crimes. And Trump regularly seeks the counsel of Sean Hannity, known as one of the dumbest men on cable TV, on policy issues.

However, it’s not just FOX News. There is an entire ecosphere of right-wing news that also pushes a conservative agenda. That includes the loathsome Breitbart, the Drudge Report and a host of AM radio shows geared towards angry white men with one foot in the grave.

Many news consumers get all their information from the right-wing echo chamber. They start the day with Rush Limbaugh. And after three hours of his fact-free claptrap, they hop over to FOX News and spend the rest of the day consuming their drivel.

The type of media you consume can have a powerful effect on your personality. Jen Senko, the producer of the 2016 film “The Brainwashing of My Dad,” documented how listening to hours of AM radio during his commute eventually changed her father from a Kennedy Democrat to a far-right Republican. She said right-wing media operates on fear, specifically demonizing anyone who’s not a conservative white male.

“There is cause for being afraid because these people are taught year after year that Democrats, black people, anyone who is not a white male, women, feminists — who they call ‘FemiNazis’ — are not just people that they disagree with but instead are evil,” said Senko in an AlterNet interview. “In addition to Fox News, which they watch like zombies 24/7 whenever they’re home, or Rush Limbaugh on radio, there are also the emails. There’s an avalanche of them. The emails from right-wing websites and groups are even worse than Fox News or right-wing radio.”

I’ve also experienced the power of media. When I first moved to California, I tried listening to Howard Stern. But after a few weeks, I had to quit the show, because it was giving me a headache. I don’t watch FOX News, for the sake of my sanity. I keep up with their clips on Mediaite and Media Matters, and some of those segments leave me slackjawed. FOX News commenters Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson have repeatedly said America was much better when it was majority white.

Watching FOX News actually makes you more ignorant. A study by Farleigh Dickinson University showed that FOX News viewers were the least informed on issues. The study also revealed that people who didn’t watch any news knew more about current events than regular FOX News watchers.

So don’t be surprised when Trump eventually leaves the White House in disgrace his supporters will still be yelling “Fake News” and proclaiming him the most popular president since Lincoln.