Buyer’s remorse is kicking in
Last August, at the Democratic National Convention, former Trump aide Stephanie Grisham tried to warn voters that loyalty with Donald Trump is a one-way street. “I saw him when the cameras were off… Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers,” she revealed. In other words, you can vote for the narcissist and even display his name in your yard or window, attend his rallies, and buy MAGA merchandise, but all of that will not be enough to win Trump’s admiration and respect.
Fast-forward to today, only a few months into Trump’s second term, and Grisham’s cautionary insight is proving painfully true. Already, thousands of federal workers have been laid off as part of Trump’s wrecking-ball strategy against the government. Trump voters are learning they are not exempt from the axing, nor are they getting the courtesy of careful reviews before “efficiency”-obsessed Trump sycophants abruptly make decisions affecting their livelihood.
Several people in the BuzzFeed community have been going viral expressing their regrets for having supported Trump. “I am embarrassed that I voted/believed in him. He should be impeached. How did our Republican Party get so low?” wrote one user. Another slammed Trump, saying he has “[a]lready lost it, acting like a clown in a circus, backed out of every promise made in the election, tearing our economy apart, going against the Constitution, acting like a foolish king in his kingdom, never should have been elected.”
Even Trump supporters who want a smaller government are concerned about the new administration’s approach. As one federal employee who voted for Trump complained to the Washington Post earlier this month, “I’m kind of all for the cuts, but I think he’s a totally different person than the first time he ran… The first time, I was seeing it in my wallet. Now, it’s like he’s got a bit of a revenge thing going.”
Also, many Trump-supporting small business owners are now reeling from his unprecedented tariff mania, which brings added costs and uncertainty to their bottom line. “American businesses like ours, with 80-100% of suppliers overseas and no US options, are at risk… We voted for you, believing in America first,” a betrayed small business owner said, according to a report from Yahoo News.
As Trump continues along his path of destruction, he is proving that you should not expect a free pass simply because you voted for the ogre. If Trump keeps this draconian and often mindless show going, he will only make it harder for supporters to stay excited about him, realizing that Trump is loyal only to his depraved, self-centered ideology.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month