The number of Republicans who list Trump as their first choice has gone from 15% to 28%. Trump’s attack on McCain moved people who listed him as their second choice more firmly into his column. Republicans appear to have miscalculated and made Donald Trump more appealing by affirming his outsider status with far-right conservatives.

The party did lower Trump’s approval ratings, but it appears that Republican voters don’t care if their chosen candidate is popular. The Republican Party threw everything they could at Trump, and the result is that the racist billionaire is even more popular with voters.

As long as Trump’s poll numbers remain high, the media will keep covering him and as long as the media keeps giving him attention, Trump’s poll numbers will remain high.

In other words, Republicans are screwed. Donald Trump put his foot in his mouth, and his poll numbers have stayed high. The Republican Party built Trump, and now he is destroying them.