Rick Wilson, conservative strategist and Lincoln Project co-founder, claimed that Donald Trump voters are having a rude awakening when it comes to the slash-and-burn "mandate" he claims Americans gave him as part of his presidential victory.
During his victory speech in November, Trump said, "America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate," referring to his promises to shake up the federal government. In the past two months, Trump has delivered on his perceived directive with a vengeance by allowing billionaire Elon Musk to pillage and plunder federal agencies. And after Republicans repeatedly denied that they would ever touch entitlements, Musk is now suggesting that DOGE cut up to $700 billion from Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
In a video posted to his Substack Wednesday, Wilson said the same Trump voters who put him back in office are now surprised and dismayed that he's doing exactly what he promised he would do.
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"Steve Bannon...he said this the other day, he came out and he said, 'A lot of Trump supporters are on Medicare, Medicaid, disability, SNAP, TANF, all these programs,'" Wilson said. "And the idea that you're just going to slash those things is going to have unintended consequences. I think Bannon was right about that."
Wilson continued, "A lot of these people...are suddenly going, 'Wait, I thought they were going to fire all the DEI people, not all the park rangers. I thought they were going to fire all the DEI people, not all the wildland firefighters. I thought they were going to get rid of DEI programs, not the National Weather Service.' They're all surprised because they use these programs. These things, they don't feel to them like they're 'evil, big government.' They feel like they're things that they pay their taxes for."
"So, I think he's going to have some trouble with those folks because they're also not getting what he promised them, which is a great economy. And the economy right now is because of him. Because of his direct actions in a posture where people are very scared right now, the markets are going crazy, people's retirements are getting screwed over, they're worried as hell, and they're right to be worried about whether or not Donald Trump gives a damn about their financial future because he doesn't. And they're realizing it in this sort of shocking moment that is, I think, going to cost him a good amount of his support... softer Republicans are now like, 'I didn't vote for this crazy stuff. I didn't vote for Elon to do all this s---.'"