Republican faces backlash from Trump loyalists in new Iowa focus group

A focus group of Iowa rural and suburban voters who cast ballots for President Donald Trump in 2024. None of them are casting ballots for the GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Elise Jordan showed clips of the meeting with voters where she asked independents what they're leaning toward in the next 19 days. Not one person said they were voting for Republican Ashley Hinson. Not one person said they were leaning toward voting for Hinson.

They had reservations about Democrat Josh Turek and said they wished he would talk more about what he wants to do rather than his background. That said, one voter said, "his ads are better than hers. I mean, he at least — like perception — again and the narrative in his ad is that he's more among the people, or he at least he's engaging with people. I just see him being a little bit more diverse than what her ads have been."

Jordan asked what comes to mind when she says Hinson's name. A woman immediately jumped in to say, "Out of touch."

"You know, with the war in Iran and now she's kind of changing her stance, you know, while she's behind in the polls," one woman said.

Another comment: "She's been a 'yes' woman for a long time. And now all of a sudden her tune is changing. So it's hard to know really where she stands."

"I think since Turek has — because he's gone through his own battles and so has his father. I think he has a more relatable stance on it regards to cost and how it affects all of us rather than she does. But if we want change, then we can't necessarily vote for Trump 'yes men' either. So it's kind of stuck between two hard places."

They did like that Hinson voted to stop insider trading and dumped all of her stocks. "Yet, she's still a millionaire," one woman said.

"So ashley hinson got a lot of money, and she's still getting a lot of money," said one woman.

"I think she's still got a lot of money," said another.

"No, I know, but if we are comparing the two of them," she said about the senate candidates for the state.

When Jordan asked if anyone was leaning toward Hinson, a man said that he wanted to because he supports Republicans, "but I can't with all the bad things and all the money and all this stuff."

The group said that the thing that has most influenced their vote is just how much money Hinson has made while in office.

"It just makes you question, why are these people going into politics," said another woman. "Is it just to use us and to get rich? Or is it actually to help your community?"

A few people said they were likely to vote for Turek, and one person hasn't ruled him out. They simply want to know his plans. They particularly liked that he wants to work across the aisle and supports border security.

- YouTube youtu.be