A pair of longtime MAGA voters in one of the nation's most hotly contested swing states is starting to sour on the president, according to an extensive profile by The Washington Post — and to survive the midterms and beyond, the GOP faces the challenge of persuading them to stay loyal and stay engaged.
Jessie and Carter Meadows of Swainsboro, Georgia, run a small local flower shop. In 2024, the business faced tough times, squeezed by inflation, and the Meadowses, who had consistently voted Republican for decades except for Jessie breaking for Barack Obama once, were eager for a revival with President Donald Trump's re-election. After all, in his first term, business boomed.
But that's not what they got. Instead, they faced an even further squeeze, as Trump's tariffs increased their operating costs. Carter fumed to The Post that the tariffs “seemed unplanned and childish.”
Meanwhile, the far-right influencers they consumed, like Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan, raised questions about Trump's strikes on Iran and the administration's handling of the Epstein files. They were shocked when Trump, who initially promised to release the files himself, started posting on Truth Social that the push to release them was a "scam" orchestrated by Democrats. And Jessie expressed frustration as Trump tried to deny his crude birthday letter to Epstein, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Far from "draining the swamp" in Washington as he promised, she said, “it seems like [he] went up there and just made himself the king frog of the swamp.”
This isn't a unique story, The Post noted.
"Eight months into his second term, Trump is facing some difficulties living up to the high expectations of his voters, even as the vast majority of Americans who cast ballots for him are still supportive," said the report. "A quarter of conservative voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, polling shows, as tariffs upend business and lower-income Americans cut back their spending. And a recent outcry from MAGA voters and influencers over the Epstein files demonstrates the pressure Trump is under to deliver for his base — which the GOP needs to energize and turn out in the 2026 midterms and beyond."
Other Trump voters have had their faith shaken in more dramatic ways, per previous reports; another Georgia couple who backed Trump found their son, a green card holder, grabbed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of the very immigration crackdown they had voted for.