There is nobody that can help us more than Trump can.
I would rather have a presidential nominee who's not been indicted
or who has not been convicted.
People aren't willing to say something
against Trump for fear of losing their party votes.
The era of Trumpism has moved to an even darker phase.
The former president in legal peril.
I am willing to go to jail if that's what it takes.
And yet he still remains the leading Republican
candidate for next year's presidential election.
The conservative movement is split between a majority
loyal to Trump –
let’s go Donald Trump! –
and a minority looking for a way out.
Would you vote for Trump in a general election?
I don't know.
And with the party in disarray,
what will the consequences be as we enter election season?
This is President Trump's party. Yep. Thank you.
We've come to South Carolina, one of the early voting primary states
where polls say Trump holds a commanding lead.
We're heading out to meet some people at the Greenville county GOP,
which is the largest Republican party in the whole of South Carolina.
And it's been taken over by a far-right Trumpist insurgency.
Its state executive committeeman is Jeff Davis,
who openly expresses disdain for so-called ‘Rinos’.
And then I was like, Rinos.
Hey.
Jeff Davis, nice to meet you. How you doing? Glad you’re here.
South Carolina Trump country.
It is Trump country.
There are reporting South Carolina is between what Teflon and titanium
is in regards to Trump. Which one is it?
I feel like titanium is a bit stronger than Teflon.
I think it will be titanium.
Yes. Have you got a photograph of the two of you together?
Yeah.
You got the picture with Donald Trump for the rally.
So she actually was more excited because Laura Trump was there.
So she's more into the fashion with the ladies, too.
So I was a fan of Donald Trump from the Art of the book, The Art of the Deal.
You know, Olga’s more of a fan of Donald Trump from the Apprentice.
The Apprentice.
Although the Republican primary hasn't even started yet.
Most people here express an undying loyalty to one man
and to the many conspiracy theories that surround his candidacy.
There is nobody in my mind,
there is nobody that can help us more than Trump can.
I do wish the Republican candidates would just get behind him.
Have you read any of the indictments here?
I have not read it personally.
I have gotten my information from different news sources,
a number of different news sources.
My favourite is Rural America's Voice.
That's my favourite.
A lot of people are quite disturbed by that.
All around the world. Also here.
Disturbed that he's indicted.
Disturbed that he still has that level of support despite all of these indictments?
Well, because these indictments,
there's nothing in any of these indictments.
They're indicting him on things that are perfectly, perfectly legal.
He told him to find him some votes.
That's what you told him, wasn't it? Well, fine, he can say that.
I mean, you know.
He can make up votes.
He didn't say make up, falsified.
Find some votes. Check this. Check this thing.
Check this thing out.
So I watched The Patriot last night and I found out where “hold the line” comes from.
So that's our new expression.
We're holding the line.
They're beautiful. Are they functional?
Of course they are.
So you haven't listened to that tape or read any of the indictments or anything?
No, because I just that isn't that just no benefit to me?
Because the people who are behind it are people I don't trust.
I don't think he's a criminal.
I don't think he would hurt our country.
Being attacked by your political adversaries is not unusual.
I mean, it happened to Nelson Mandela.
It happened to Martin Luther King. It happened to Gandhi.
A lot of people in the country find it quite chilling.
They find it pretty scary.
Well, I’m sure they’re all Democrats and rinos.
Right. Okay.
So, you know, what do you expect?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
You're asking questions based on a false premise.
Uh huh.
So...
What is it that you really want?
Me? Yeah. I just want to ask questions.
Or do you want the truth?
Yeah, you do. Okay. I want to hear what you guys think.
So you know, you know who is the truth?
There is one person that is the truth.
It’s Jesus.
I see, okay. Who said that?
Okay.
Some here are sympathetic to the far-right wing of the state Republican party,
a local Freedom Caucus,
which has pushed some of the harshest local legislation in the country.
Ask you very specifically about one piece of legislation
that a number of people in that caucus backed, which is changes to abortion laws here,
and the idea that women who get abortions
should be prosecuted for homicide and could face the death penalty.
Is that something that you supported? I do support that. I do.
I support it in the sense of I think we ought to have you know,
I would like to say South Carolina is the most conservative state in the nation.
So you would support the death penalty for women who took an abortion?
I don't know how it would be implemented.
You know, quite frankly.
That's totalitarianism.
That's going beyond really anything
that exists inside the sort of regular parameters of any democratic state.
That's totalitarianism.
I think people have a choice.
You have a choice to practice safe sex and the such,
so you have a choice, you know, initially.
And Donald Trump is the only candidate running for president
who you believe will embody those sorts of extremes.
I think Donald Trump, I hate to say those extremes,
I think what Donald Trump is willing to do is actually speak back,
speak out against the establishment.
It's extremely dark,
extremely dark.
I left with concerns that the group was stifling political debate
and in fact, a group of outcast conservatives
once part of this party, have formed their own independent group
called the Fourth District Republican Club.
They invited us to come and meet them at a local Denny's.
I want to welcome you guys.
I'm Linda Barnett.
Hi Linda –
Oh, nice to meet you.
Nice meeting you.
I'm Oliver. This is Tom. Yeah.
Good to see you again.
Many here have been committed Republicans for decades.
A lot of people in this room were very active in the
Greenville County Republican Party.
And two years ago, they got new leadership.
Several of us didn't really feel welcome there.
Was that group a little bit too extreme for you?
Yes, a little bit extreme.
Do you think that's a consequence of Donald Trump?
Oh, these guys are very, very loyal to him.
Yeah.
I don't understand why that feeling is there.
Would you vote for Trump in a general election?
I don't know.
Their actions speak words, and a lot of volume.
So, yeah, a lot of volume.
A lot of volume.
Yeah, absolutely.
Do appreciate you guys coming.
And I went on your site today
and read some of your publications and was very impressed.
Well, thank you very much.
Yeah.
The group had invited a
state Republican representative called Jason Elliott to speak.
He's also the first openly gay person to be elected to the legislature in South Carolina.
Some of those folks in the county GOP here are talking about
absolute undying loyalty to Donald Trump.
The idea that voting for anybody else is essentially disloyal.
You must feel uncomfortable with that.
Well, that's not the way the Republican party works,
and that's not the way democracy with a little ‘d’ works.
If we were to subscribe to the viewpoint that it's disloyal
and we need to coronate somebody, we might as well just cancel all the primaries.
Elections are about the future.
And if we re-litigate the 2020 election
and if we re-litigate January 6,
the Republicans will have a hard time regaining the White House.
Would you still vote for Donald Trump if he was the nominee?
I'm voting for the nominee of the Republican party.
So you would still vote for Donald Trump?
Yeah.
That sentiment was expressed by most people I spoke to here.
And although this is a staunchly conservative part of the state,
there are local Democrats trying to change that.
In the nearby small town of Pickens,
in an unusual move, Trump took over the entire downtown to hold a rally.
and left the county with almost $40,000 worth of bills.
The local Democrats are led by Richard Byrd and Claiborne Linville,
and they've actually increased their membership in recent years.
Are you Richard?
I’m Richard. Nice to meet you, Richard.
I’m Oliver. Democrat on county.
Hi, I'm Claiborne.
Presidential year.
I tried to compare you know, apples to apples here a presidential year
and 16 to 2020 and huge increase for us.
The Trump era in some respects has kind of bolstered Democratic
turnout in what is a pretty conservative part of the country.
Well, of course,
you hate to give him credit for anything except maybe the wrong doing.
But yeah, I'm sure that's been a part of it.
Behind the courthouse where he spoke
is a war memorial commemorating residents who were killed.
It's really frustrating and it's certainly disrespectful
to speak at a place so close to where these county residents are honoured.
Do you have colleagues of yours on the council and in the county party
who are fearful about actually expressing that honest opinions about Donald Trump?
I think so.
I think in private, I'm able to have open conversations with people
that they can have with me that they will not say out loud.
But I think part of the reason that his rally here
has been paid for and brushed aside is because people aren't willing
to say something against Trump for fear of losing their party votes.
We did not hold Richard Nixon accountable 50 years ago,
and this is part of what's been wrought as a result of that.
And if we don't hold this person accountable now,
I can't even imagine how bad the next
iteration of this kind of behaviour
for this nation and the effects, the ripple effect throughout the world would be.
It's got to be done.
My last stop was a drive down
to Charleston, for a rally with Donald Trump.
Merchandise branded with Trump's mugshot was selling fast.
That is, that'll be $140.
All shirts are ten bucks y'all.
The Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene
has become a superstar at these events now,
which are no longer really about the party,
but about one man and the political and legal chaos that surrounds him.
And she, like Trump, is claiming this primary is already over.
Just wanted to ask you some reports saying that you're encouraging the rest
of the Republican presidential primary field to drop out of the race.
Is that right? Oh, absolutely.
I think the American people are making it clear
that they want President Trump back.
So the debate's pretty much over.
There hasn’t been a single ballot cast in this primary yet though?
The polling you can ask, hey, are you guys supporting President Trump?
President, yeah, we're at a Trump rally.
So, one would expect that.
Based on your position that this party is Trump's party,
there's no room for debate, no room to discussion.
This is President Trump's party. Yep. Thank you.
That's my president. Yes.
Let's go Donald Trump!
We're going to win that primary big.
You know, we won the state twice, by record numbers.
It's not really my job as a journalist to predict the outcome of elections,
but during my time in South Carolina, I've seen very little evidence
that anybody else has much of a chance of securing the nomination here.
A lot of people are now saying the Republican party
has essentially become a personality around Donald Trump.
It's becoming increasingly hard to find any evidence that suggests to the contrary.
Carolina, thank you.