‘I Fell For It Three Times’: Trump Voters Are Ditching the Republican Party Going Into the Midterms – The Washington Post interviewed several former supporters of President Donald Trump on Sunday who said they would no longer vote Republican in the midterms after being disappointed by Trump’s second term in the White House.
“I fell for it three times,” said Georgia resident Rick Sebring, who, despite voting Republican in every election since 2015, now plans to vote Democratic in next month’s elections.
AOC. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Sebring told the Washington Post that Trump no longer felt like the same man he was before, expressing disappointment over the president’s decision to wage war against Iran despite running on a platform of no new conflicts.
Sebring also expressed concern over Trump’s attempts to halt the release of the Epstein files and his seemingly unconditional support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Former Trump Voters Accuse the President of Enriching Himself in the White House
73-year-old Maine retiree Carrie Bacon, another former Trump supporter, told the Washington Post that while she would vote for GOP Senator Susan Collins — a moderate Republican who has recently sought to distance herself from the president — she would not support the Republican Party elsewhere in her district, accusing “bozo” Trump of using the White House to make “as much money on the side as he can.”
Other former Trump supporters — including a retired three-time Trump voter and a Wisconsin teacher who also voted for the president three times — told the Post that while they would not vote Democrat in the upcoming elections, they would likely not turn out to vote Republican either due to the economic effects of Trump’s war.
President Donald J. Trump attends a Rose Garden Lunch for first responders Thursday, October 15, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
Even those who told the newspaper they still plan to vote Republican in the midterms strongly criticized Trump’s handling of the economy.
I Have “Never Seen the Economy This Bad Ever,” Says Trump Supporter
42-year-old Virginia Trump supporter Amy Reese said that while she would back Trump and the Republicans again, she had “never seen the economy this bad, ever, and it’s scary.”
Reese told the Washington Post that under Trump, her electric bill had risen to nearly $700 a month, her insulin for Type-1 diabetes had more than doubled, and her husband was at risk of being put out of business.
She also argued that the $5,000 checks Trump has promised if Republicans win the midterms would not cover the losses people experienced during his second term.
Trump’s Midterm Approval Rating is The Lowest of Any President Since WWII
Trump’s pre-midterm approval rating fell to the lowest of any U.S. president in the last 80 years this month as Americans continue to feel the economic consequences of the conflict with Iran.
About 1 in 7 voters who backed Trump in the 2024 election told the Washington Post they now favor Democratic control of Congress. About one in five voters who backed Trump in 2024 also disapprove of his job.
As of this month, Trump’s approval rating is now lower than former president Joe Biden’s approval rating was going into the 2022 midterm elections. It is also lower than former president George W. Bush’s approval rating was going into the 2006 elections. That election, a catastrophic blow to the Republican Party, saw Democrats gain both the House and Senate after more than 10 years of Republican control and predicted Barack Obama’s overwhelming victory in the presidential election two years later.
No president near Trump’s current approval rating has maintained control of both the House and Senate since World War II.
Voters Have More Trust in the Democratic Party on the Economy, Lowering Gas Prices, Corruption, and Ending Wars
A New York Times poll found this month that 55% of voters trusted the Democratic Party more than the Republicans to lower the cost of living, while 53% trusted Democrats more than Republicans to lower gas prices.
A majority of voters also expressed more faith in the Democratic Party than the Republican Party to handle foreign conflicts—a huge blow to Trump, given how central his promise to end foreign wars was to all three of his presidential campaigns.
The Democratic Party also beat Republicans on issues such as health care, corruption, artificial intelligence, and even immigration.
About the Author: Charlie Nash
Charlie Nash is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Spectator, Mediaite, New Statesman, and the American Conservative, among other major publications. His reporting has been featured by The Washington Post, Fox News, the Daily Beast, MS NOW, NewsNation, Hannity, and more. You can follow Charlie on X at @CharlieNash and on LinkedIn.
