At an event at the English theater in Frankfurt last week, he had to defend Trump — again. Most people there wanted to talk about the 2005 video in which Trump bragged about groping women, so Leiser tried to direct them to other issues like Hillary Clinton’s “two faces” or “our missteps in Libya.”

Leiser sounds a little tired of this, maybe because Trump wasn’t his favorite GOP candidate, and he describes the “Access Hollywood” tape as “rather despicable.” Even at home, when he talks politics with his German wife, Trump is an issue.

Nevertheless, Leiser wants to be a loyal Republican. He says party members should “do their best to find a way to work with Mr. Trump.”

AD

AD

But not every Republican abroad is that confident. Leiser recently told German public broadcaster ARD that many fellow party members in Germany keep quiet about their political affiliations. Openly supporting Trump is like “putting a bull’s eye on your back,” Leiser said.

Business people are especially cautious because they are afraid of scaring away German partners. “With Romney, it was much easier for them,” he told The Washington Post. “Now there is a reluctance to vocalize support for your party.”

Germans’ critical attitude toward Trump comes as no surprise. Germans have traditionally preferred Democratic presidential candidates over their Republican counterparts. One reason is the comparatively larger affiliation with leftist ideas in Germany. Even the conservative party of Angela Merkel can be considered quite liberal by American standards. With a provocative candidate like Trump, this bias is even stronger.

Katie Hagstrom, chairman of Republicans Overseas in Sweden, says it’s much the same in that Nordic country — one should not stray from a supposed “opinion corridor” there “if you want to be accepted, promoted, liked.”

AD

AD

Although France also has a strong socialist tradition, Marc Porter isn’t afraid to openly represent Republicans in the country. He claims the French have a positive attitude toward the GOP nominee.

“We wear our Trump buttons on the street and people are smiling,” said Porter, who is president of the local Republicans Overseas with about 1,000 members.

According to the Paris resident, even the “Access Hollywood” tape didn’t cause sustainable outrage. “We are not Puritans anymore,” said Porter. “The French love that.”

“I think most people here understand that Trump is a blustery American on the outside and on the inside quite serious,” he said.

Porter worries more about some of his fellow party members who think their nominee is a Trojan horse of the Democrats.

AD

He says things were worse when John McCain ran for president. “Frankly, McCain was the worst campaign for me,” he said. “Against Obama, we were sidelined as not important at all.”