Defending Donald Trump has been a challenge and a headache for Republicans ever since he became their party's nominee for president in 2016. After every appalling tweet, every racist statement, and every ludicrous policy idea, Republicans are called upon to explain why this is really no big deal and everything's fine.
But with Trump's scandals deepening and the law closing in, justifying the president's words and actions is getting harder and harder.
Fortunately for them, Republicans have always been good at this sort of thing, unencumbered as they are by logic or principle. So how are they reacting to the latest developments, including the allegation by federal prosecutors that Trump instructed his attorney Michael Cohen to break the law in concealing the hush money payoff to Stormy Daniels, the fact that 16 different Trump associates had contact with Russians during the campaign and the transition, and the growing list of indictments, convictions, and guilty pleas?