'Buyer’s remorse': These Trump voters are 'getting hit the hardest' by MAGA’s 'slow-motion train wreck'

20 March

Although often critical of liberal and progressive policies, conservative opinion columnist Matt K. Lewis is no fan of President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. Lewis, despite some policy disagreements, rooted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election — and he has an extremely negative view of Trump's second term in the White House.

In his March 19 column, the Never Trump conservative lays out a variety of ways in which 2024 Trump voters are now "getting hit the hardest" by his policies.

"At some point," Lewis comments, "you have to stop feeling bad for people who repeatedly stick their hand in the fire and act shocked when it burns. Come on, folks — how many times do you need to touch a stove before you realize it’s hot?"

The columnist cites specific examples of Trump voters being harmed by the president's policies, including a Wisconsin man whose Peruvian wife is being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) worker who lost her job because of the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) mass layoffs.

"Take Bradley Bartell, a Wisconsin man who voted for Trump in 2024 and is now devastated because ICE has detained and may deport his Peruvian wife," Lewis explains. "He 'knew they were cracking down,' he says. 'I guess I didn’t know how it was going down.' Really, Bradley? You voted for the guy who said he was going to round up immigrants, but somehow, you didn't get the memo?"

Lewis continues, "Then there's David Pasquino, a vet who worked for Veterans Affairs until Trump's so-called 'efficiency' cuts came around. Now, he's complaining about the 'chainsaw' they used instead of a 'scalpel.' Now, he feels 'betrayed.' Did you think being a veteran would save you from the guy who refers to fallen service members as 'losers' and 'suckers,' David?"

Another example Lewis cites is Trump voter Jennifer Piggott, who was abruptly laid off from her job at the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Fiscal Service and told Reuters, 'I feel a little bit betrayed.'"

"These aren’t isolated incidents," Lewis argues. "This is a self-inflicted catastrophe…. For those of us who spent years waving red flags, the temptation is to yell, 'Told ya so!'…. These are the folks who figured, 'What the heck, maybe he'll fix things.' Now, they're the ones getting hit the hardest and possibly regretting their decision."

Lewis adds, "As buyer’s remorse starts to spread, it's like watching a slow-motion trainwreck.

Matt K. Lewis' full column for The Hill is available at this link.

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