The Post reports, “Twice as many Americans disapprove than approve of President Trump’s response to the deadly Charlottesville protests led by white supremacists that ignited widespread political backlash against the White House, though a majority of Republicans offer at least tepid support in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.” Fifty-six percent disapprove of his handling of the incident while only 28 percent approve. Voters are divided on what Trump actually said with “42 percent saying he is putting white supremacists on equal standing with those who oppose these groups. Thirty-five percent say Trump is not equating the two, while the rest of those in the survey — 23 percent — offer no opinion.”

Republicans are generally sticking with Trump, but there are fewer and fewer hardcore fans:

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A majority of self-identified Republicans — more than 6 in 10 — approve of Trump’s response to the protests, according to the Post-ABC poll, while about 2 in 10 disapprove and the same share offer no opinion. Overall, Trump maintains an 80 percent job approval rating among Republicans, a number little changed from recent surveys. But the percentage that approves “strongly” — just about half of the GOP — is down 10 percentage points from last month.

The Post’s pollster tells me that among college-educated whites, Trump’s approval/disapproval is 33 to 63 percent, and among those who have not graduated from college, it’s barely in positive territory (49 to 47 percent). Likewise, 58 percent of college-educated whites disapproved of his handling of Charlottesville while only 31 percent approved; 37 percent of non-college-educated respondents approved, with 45 percent disapproval. A rather high percentage (18 percent) said they had no opinion. In short, even among whites, his only real stronghold — and it’s not that steady — is among non-college-educated whites. That’s enough to fill a stadium in West Virginia or Arizona, but not even to win elections.

And without rock-solid support among his base, Trump’s approval cannot sustain even its historically low level (37 percent). “Nearly twice as many political independents disapprove as approve of his response to the protests, 55 to 28 percent, while 84 percent of Democrats say they disapprove. The poll found broad disapproval of Trump’s Charlottesville reaction among racial minority groups. More than 8 in 10 African Americans and nearly two-thirds of Hispanics disapprove. Among whites, 49 percent disapprove, while 35 percent approve.”

The poll underscores a number of troubling trends for the president. First, if Stephen K. Bannon’s departure and return to Breitbart split Trump’s base, he’s in for a significant drop in the polls. Horrifyingly, a full 10 percent of Americans identify as “alt-right.” It is those voters who will balk if Trump is seen as abandoning his anti-immigrant, “anti-globalist” agenda — in other words, normalizing.

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Second, if Trump continues to galvanize opposition but split his own side, losing some voters and depressing others, 2018 will be a debacle, very possibly handing the Democrats the House, and thereby the power of impeachment. Third, the damage to his standing with elected leaders is not likely to be undone any time soon. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) rightly observes that it’s hard to say he will be the nominee in 2020. (If he officially becomes a lame duck, whatever standing he has with his own party will evaporate.) Even skittish House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) launched a broadside against him yesterday with an op-ed, declaring: “That is why we all need to make clear there is no moral relativism when it comes to neo-Nazis. We cannot allow the slightest ambiguity on such a fundamental question.” (He also sounded weakly defensive, making sure voters knew that “when this all happened last Saturday, I was in the mountains with my family.”