When Donald Trump derided John McCain’s war hero status on Saturday and set off a media firestorm, many in the Republican establishment thought he had finally self-destructed. They can keep dreaming.

Trump’s partisans are disappointed. But they’re disappointed in McCain, the media and the party establishment, not Trump.


Interviews with his supporters in New Hampshire and the first drips of polling data suggest the mogul’s core constituency has no intention of abandoning him over the dust-up.

“I don’t like McCain anyways, to be perfectly frank with you,” said Jerry DeLemus, a Marine Corps veteran and Republican activist in New Hampshire. DeLemus said he was a supporter of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz before formally signing on to support Trump on Sunday.

He said Trump’s comments the day before — “He’s not a war hero,” said Trump of McCain at a gathering of religious conservatives in Iowa, adding, “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured” — do nothing to shake his support and that it’s McCain who should have to answer for his treatment of veterans.

“You think about [McCain] calling all the supporters of Trump ‘crazies,’” said DeLemus. “How many of those guys are veterans? Trump didn’t insult veterans. He went after McCain.”

DeLemus called the party establishment’s outrage “disingenuous,” given its support for the dubious claims made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that claimed Kerry did not deserve his military accolades, which include the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Heart medals, when he ran for president against George W. Bush in 2004.

“For the mainstream media to take Mr. Trump’s comments out of context are very unfortunate and clearly in an effort to try to torpedo his candidacy,” said Lou Gargiulo, Trump’s Rockingham County, New Hampshire, co-chairman, who served in the Army. “He has spoken about the plight of veterans and as a veteran myself, I find people taking those comments out of context very unfortunate.”

“People are out there looking for an opening to try to rip Donald Trump down, and we don’t want to lose sight of what’s most important,“ said New Hampshire state Rep. Steve Stepanek, who has endorsed Trump.

Early indications from Iowa polling are also showing that for Trump’s supporters, his comments only burnish the brash, blunt image that drew them to the businessman in the first place.

In a Monmouth poll conducted from Thursday through Sunday, Trump registered 13 percent support among likely Republican caucus-goers surveyed on Thursday and Friday, before Trump derided McCain on Saturday morning. His support among likely caucus-goers surveyed on Saturday and Sunday was also 13 percent, putting him second only to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and 5 points ahead of the third-place candidate, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

While two days of Iowa polling represent a limited sample size, and many respondents may not have processed Trump’s remarks by the time they registered their preference, the poll gives no indication that Trump’s supporters are peeling away.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t any fallout.

A national ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted during the same period did show Trump’s support dropping off significantly on Sunday night, though that sample consisted of fewer than 200 voters and the poll’s overall results still showed Trump surging to a commanding national lead with 24 percent support, 11 points ahead of his nearest rival, Scott Walker.

“It doesn’t have me worried at all,” said Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, of the Sunday night drop-off. Nor does a call from former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for Trump to drop out of the race because of the comments. “We don’t respond to Rick Perry,” he said.

Trump has also caught the scorn of veterans groups, including the Military Officers Association of America, which have called on Trump to apologize. Richard Weidman, executive director for policy and government affairs of Vietnam Veterans for America, said the mogul’s comments were especially “outrageous” because he received five deferments that allowed him to avoid serving in the war.

For his part, McCain on Monday morning said that while he doesn’t need an apology from Trump, other veterans deserve one.

But even Trump’s detractors who are also veterans are skeptical he has done himself any harm.

“I think Donald Trump is way off-base here and he’s a bit of an embarrassment to the political process,” said Brandon Friedman, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran and CEO of the McPherson Square Group, a strategic communications firm that often works on veterans affairs.

“For normal politicians, this would obviously be very damaging,” said Friedman, a Democrat who also served in the Obama administration as a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “But Donald Trump is kind of a force.”

He added, “Under normal circumstances, if veterans groups mobilized and really rallied their constituents, you would see Trump’s poll numbers drop. … But I think it’s very hard to predict right now how this is going to go.”

Jonathan Freeman, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran from Iowa who served as the deputy veterans outreach coordinator for Obama’s 2008 campaign, said Trump’s attack on McCain’s service “befuddles the mind.” But he also said that Trump’s follow-up attack, during which he refused to apologize for his comments in a press availability on Saturday and instead went after McCain’s record on veterans issues, resonates with many former service members. “As of 2008, [McCain] had not actually done that much for veterans.”

And Democrats are taking Republicans’ fast-and-furious condemnation of Trump as an opportunity to remind voters of the party’s support — in particular, Jeb Bush’s support — for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

“Enough with the slanderous attacks,” Bush tweeted in response to Trump on Saturday. “@SenJohnMcCain and all our veterans - particularly POWs have earned our respect and admiration.”

But in January 2005, Democrats quickly pointed out, the former Florida governor praised the campaign to impugn Kerry’s record of service.

“Thank you for your personal support of my brother in his re-election,” Bush wrote to the late George Day, who worked on behalf of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and also shared a prison cell with McCain in Vietnam. “I know you will be joining other Swifties — POWs in Orlando soon. Please let them know that I am personally appreciative of their service to our nation. As someone who truly understands the risk of standing up for something, I simply cannot express in words how much I value their willingness to stand up against John Kerry.”

Trump, who remains unapologetic, appears to believe he can shift the focus of the debate rather than retract his comments. “This story is no longer about John McCain, it’s about our horribly treated vets. Illegals are treated better than our wonderful veterans,” he tweeted on Monday.

Trump has also touted his contributions to veterans’ causes, saying he gave over $1 million for the building of a Vietnam veterans memorial in New York and another $1 million for a parade to honor veterans in New York in 1995. “A Trump administration will provide premium universal access health care for our veterans,” he said in a statement. “They will be able to get the best care anytime and anywhere.”