Supporters of Donald Trump listen to him during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, 2024.
This is an occasional roundup of people who voted for Donald Trump and are shocked to find out no one is immune from the damage and pain he causes. Many are now grappling with the consequences of their choice as it affects them and their loved ones—and possibly regretting their vote.
Axios gathered 13 Michigan voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 after voting for Joe Biden in 2020, and gauged their opinions of the new administration. The results were both encouraging and infuriating—often at the same time.
“Ten of 13 participants from this battleground, auto-industry state bordering Canada said what they're seeing isn't what they thought they were voting for—and they're worried Trump's approach may hurt their pocketbooks,” wrote Axios.
From the start, this conclusion is obnoxious. People voted for Trump—even as he openly and repeatedly promised to hurt other people—because they either wanted other people to get hurt, or didn’t care. Either way, that makes them shitty people.
“Another voter, who owns a health and weight loss business, said most of her clients are in the auto industry—if they're hit it could devastate her,” wrote Axios. “One said she works in the auto industry and just got furloughed because ‘we are not building any cars right now.’”
They loved Trump when he promised to hurt other people, but they don’t like it when they themselves are facing the consequences of their vote. It’s hard to feel sorry for this crowd. But there is also a great deal of dumb, dumb, dumb.
"I don't feel like he was this aggressive last time because I don't think anyone would've voted for him if they expected to see what we're seeing now," said Shannon B., a 27-year-old from Livonia, Michigan.
President Donald Trump
I’ll give Shannon a little bit of a pass since she was 19 at the start of Trump’s first presidency, with that underdeveloped frontal lobe. But … those of us paying attention can’t fathom why anyone would vote for him given what we saw the first time.
"He's so erratic, and it's getting to the point where I'm almost scared to watch the news,” said Sheryl M., a 44-year-old from Chesterfield. "I mean, it's a little bit frightening 'cause each day is something new, so you get a little anxious."
This might be excusable if Trump hadn’t been erratic for his entire first term and then for the entire 2024 campaign cycle. In other words, inexcusable.
"I mean, Canada? When have we ever had issues with Canada?" asked Dearborn Height’s Phil L., age 45. "We barely have a border. You can go in and out of the country and a lot of places, a lot of states. I think we're just barking up the wrong tree with this."
Given that Trump spent his first term making enemies out of our allies, and coddling up to dictators in Russia, North Korea, China, and elsewhere, why would anyone act surprised is beyond me.
Therese L., a 55-year-old from Commerce Township, was disgusted by that creepy AI image of Trump wearing a crown, saying "long live the king," and claiming that "He who saves his country doesn't violate any law.” "He is acting like a dictator," said Therese L.
And who warned her that Trump’s behaviors during his first term and campaign rhetoric were dictatorial? Wasn’t even us liberals! It was the very people who served in his first administration!
"[Trump] campaigned on lowering prices and making things more affordable for working-class people. He's moving in the opposite direction," said Michael L., a 43-year-old also out of Commerce Township. Axios further noted that Michael L. “conceded that Trump had previewed tariffs during the campaign, but said ‘we didn't necessarily think it would be this much, this fast.’"
Aaaargh! I’ve noted before how powerful this feeling is—that Trump ran on lowering prices, and everything he’s done since has raised prices. It’ll be his eventual undoing, practically inevitable in my opinion. That’s why his pathetic Tesla stunt was particularly damaging to him.
Still, a huge group of people who voted for him didn’t understand what tariffs were about. Michael L. apparently did—and still voted for him. It really is amazing how Trump gets people to believe his lies and not believe his truths. Trump is doing exactly what he promised, so why are people surprised if they were paying any attention?
"[I fear] that this will eventually turn into a dictatorship,” said Malea H., a 34-year-old from Clinton Township. “[I]f the people that we elected to be his checks and balances don't check and balance him, then what are they there for?"
A voter inserts her absentee voter ballot into a drop box in Troy, Michigan, on Oct. 15, 2020.
Maybe don’t vote for wannabe dictators who have already stressed our institution? Yes, Democrats need to put up a fiercer fight. But that doesn’t absolve her of her vote. I don’t dump chemicals into a city’s water supply, then complain that authorities aren’t cleaning it up fast enough.
So 10 of 13 aren’t happy with Trump, but … “Only one of the 10 Trump voters-turned-critics said they'd choose Kamala Harris for president if they could do it over,” according to Axios.
That sounds damning, and it is. People don’t like to admit they made wrong choices, so they’ll rationalize their decision until the end of their days. Kamala would’ve been worse is a popular rationale.
Here’s the thing: We will never change the minds of the MAGA cult. The vast majority of Trump voters will stick by their decision to vote for him, and they’ll keep voting for Republicans up and down the ticket. Changing their minds is not our job, however.
One of 13 Trump voters would’ve switched their vote to Harris, and that’s 7.7% of the whole that might vote differently next time. The story doesn’t say whether the rest would’ve still voted Trump or sat out the election or voted or voted third party or what. Given the fears of “dictatorship” from several of the panelists, presumably many would stay home. In any case, shift the vote in some battleground states by just a few percentage points and Harris would’ve won.
The core cult won’t shift. But if we can get 7.7% of Trump voters to regret their vote and shift to the Democrats, that would reshape the electoral landscape. That kind of shift would dramatically expand the presidential and Senate maps, and make it impossible for Republicans to win the House.
That’s our job, reaching those people.
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