Trump voters are slowly realizing he’s TERRIBLE FOR THEM

Diehard MAGAs are feeling the cost of Trump’s broken promises

Trump voters are starting to wake up. It is not happening all at once, and it is not even fully conscious yet, but you can feel the shift. The comments are coming in quietly, almost guiltily, as if people are afraid to admit what they are seeing with their own eyes. For years they were told that Donald Trump was fighting for them, that he was their voice, that he would make America great again. But now they are looking around, checking their grocery receipts, their insurance bills, their paychecks, and realizing something is deeply wrong. And Trump, despite all the promises, is nowhere near fixing it.

Let us look at some examples of what is bubbling up among Trump’s own supporters:

Cindi still cannot bring herself to blame Trump directly. She is hesitant, like someone refusing to admit a bad investment. She is still holding onto the idea that all of this began under Biden. But buried in her comment is the first crack in the wall. She is acknowledging that life under Trump is not getting better. She is living through the decline, and it is hitting home. The story of the “forgotten American” that Trump ran on is now Cindi’s reality, except this time Trump is the one in charge, and she is still struggling.

Here is what another Trump voter had to say:

This one cuts deeper because he is right. While Trump parades around claiming he is solving global conflicts, some real and some completely fabricated, everyday people cannot afford an unexpected four-hundred-dollar expense. J. Mathew is tired of the showmanship. He does not want another victory lap in some foreign policy fantasy. He wants a president who makes life livable again.

But that is the thing. Trump never really intended to fix what is broken here. The entire project of Trumpism has always been performance. The gold letters, the rallies, the endless grievance, the reality television politics, all of it is designed to make people feel like he is fighting for them without actually doing the hard work of governing. And now the bill for that performance is coming due.

Here’s more from someone who shares the economic frustration:

That is the paradox in full color. The person acknowledges the pain, the high prices and the bills piling up, but immediately recoils from considering any alternative. They say, “I love Trump, but do something,” then dismiss the Democrats as incapable of helping. It is a trap of loyalty, and it is one Trump relies on. These voters are locked in a belief system where no matter how bad things get, the only acceptable emotional response is to reaffirm their allegiance.

Still, even in that, there is a seed of doubt. The act of saying “do something” means they are noticing the absence of action. They are aware that Trump’s endless campaign rallies and media stunts do not put food on the table. That kind of awareness is slow-moving, but it is dangerous for any politician who has built his brand entirely on illusion.

Here is yet another voice speaking out about the hardships:

That word, “urgent,” captures it perfectly. This is not partisan noise. These are people genuinely struggling. They are not talking about abstract policy or culture war distractions. They are talking about survival, the price of bread, the electric bill, the cost of health insurance. These are the everyday realities of the working and middle-class families Trump claimed he would save. And the truth is, they are being crushed under his watch.

What makes these posts so revealing is that they are all coming from inside Trump’s base. They are not anti-Trump liberals. They are not progressive activists. They are the backbone of the movement, and they are starting to notice that their champion has left them behind.

To be clear, none of this means they are about to vote Democrat. Every one of these people makes that explicit. They are saying, we are hurting, but we are still loyal. It is political Stockholm syndrome. The loyalty persists because the alternative feels unthinkable. The right-wing media ecosystem has spent years telling them Democrats are socialists who want to take their jobs, their guns, their culture. So even when reality slaps them in the face, when they cannot afford gas or groceries, their reflex is to double down on the same party that caused it.

But here is where Democrats and the broader pro-democracy movement need to pay attention. These voters are doing half the work already. They are identifying the problem. They are admitting the system is not working. They are saying out loud that life is harder under Trump. The missing piece is connecting that pain to its source, the policies and politicians they keep supporting.

That is where political communication becomes essential. It is not enough to mock these voters for their misplaced loyalty. Democrats have to meet them where they are. When someone says, “My kid’s college tuition is out of reach,” that is not a random complaint. That is a political opportunity to explain how policy decisions created that reality. When someone says, “My insurance premiums doubled,” that is a moment to talk about who benefits from deregulating the health industry and who actually fights for consumer protections.

If Democrats want to win these voters, or at least neutralize their despair, they have to connect the dots. They need to say, yes, you are right, your grocery bill is out of control, your electricity costs too much, your wages are not keeping up. But that did not happen by accident. It is the product of decades of policy choices made by the very party you are still voting for.

And for that to be convincing, Democrats have to do more than gesture toward vague ideas. They need an actual plan, clear, credible, and easy to explain. They need to show how a working family’s real-world costs would go down under their policies. They need to make the argument not in think tank language but in kitchen table terms.

The irony is that Trump’s entire movement was built on the illusion of populism, the idea that he was the only one who could stand up for the forgotten men and women of America. But he never governed for them. He governed for the wealthy, for corporations, and for himself. And now, as inflation and economic strain hit his own base, that illusion is starting to crumble.

So yes, Trump voters are slowly realizing he is terrible for them. But realization alone does not change elections. It is up to those who understand the game, the Democrats, the media, anyone who still believes in a functioning democracy, to help people connect that realization to action. That is the next step. That is the work ahead.

---

We’re reaching over 100 million people every month across YouTube, podcasts, Substack, and beyond. But algorithms can change. Platforms can fold. And when that happens, this newsletter is how we stay connected.

If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, please consider joining.
If you’re already paid on one platform, consider supporting us on both Substack and our website.

You can subscribe on our website and right here on Substack.

And if you’re really on fire, consider gifting a subscription—we’ve got thousands on our waiting list ready to read, watch, and fight back.

MAGA cancel culture is real—and it’s coming for the press. But they can’t cancel what they don’t control.

Let’s keep building.

—David

PS: Can’t contribute right now? No problem. You can support us for free by subscribing on YouTube, listening to our audio podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or become a free subscriber to this very Substack. Every bit counts.