A little noticed recent poll from the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune found that Lone Star State Republicans have soured on the FBI and other law enforcement entities. The survey of 1,200 registered voters revealed that 35 percent of Republicans viewed the agency unfavorably while 43 percent expressed a favorable view and 22 percent were undecided on the matter.

Now to Democrats, those numbers may not sound particularly negative, but for Republicans deep in the heart of Texas who typically cheer muscular law enforcement capabilities, that showing is pretty abysmal for an agency like the FBI. It's also a sign that Donald Trump's attacks on the agency and special counsel Robert Mueller are potentially taking hold among his supporters in deep red areas of the country. NPR reports:

"I think all of this reflects the fact that almost everything connected with Donald Trump being in the White House right now is falling into an intensely partisan field" said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, which designed and analyzed the poll. "On a deeper level, it means one more institution that is the subject of a real crisis in faith in the general public," Henson said. "And I think it is worrisome." [...] Trump surrogates and supporters, including cable TV pundits, also have been hammering the FBI for being part of the so-called "deep state," federal agencies allegedly staffed by partisan Democrats who are quietly, even secretly, engaged in sabotaging Republicans and their policies. The phrase "deep state" has become an important part of the nation's conservative lexicon in a short period of time. It began on the far right, the so called "alt-right," which views the federal government in general with deep distrust.

In contrast, only 15 percent of Democrats had an unfavorable opinion of the FBI—less than half as many as Republicans—with 51 percent of Democrats expressing a favorable view of the agency.