Story highlights SE Cupp: In defending the alt-right protesters, the President appears to be -- mistakenly -- conflating them with his base

He will not change direction until the majority of his voters finally tell him that he's wrong, she says

S.E. Cupp is a CNN political commentator and the host of an upcoming HLN prime-time program covering contemporary issues. It debuts at 7 p.m. ET, August 21. The views expressed in this commentary are solely hers.

(CNN) Criticized by conservatives and liberals, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and virtually everyone in between, President Donald Trump is finding few defenders of his own renewed defense of white nationalist protesters who turned violent on Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia.

But no amount of scolding from Republicans and Democrats in Washington, the media, or even some of his own advisers will likely deter Trump from his indefensible message. Only when Trump voters themselves decide they do not want to be lumped in with neo-Nazis and white supremacists will the tide turn away from this horrifying and disturbing crisis of national conscience.

From the moment Donald Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower in 2015, it was clear his campaign was going to be one that wrapped its arms around a certain segment of the population.

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We learned more about this group as the months ticked on -- they were largely white and economically disenfranchised. They felt left behind by both parties, dismissed by elites for their social and cultural values. Trump, without question, got these voters in ways no other candidate from either party did.

But what was unclear was whether or not Trump was also trying to wrap his arms around a smaller, deeply disturbing pocket of the fringe right: white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis.

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