The sentence says because president's attempts are considered undemocratic, his crew is trying to find excuses for why the president's attempts are actually not undemocratic, how his words are misrepresented etc. But the crew's actions are so far reportedly fruitless.

The sentence says because the president's attempts are considered undemocratic, his crew is trying to find excuses for why the president's attempts were actually not undemocratic, how his words were misrepresented etc. But the crew's actions are so far fruitless.