‘Betrayed’ Voter Group Turns Its Back on Trump
The president faces an uphill battle to convince previously steadfast supporters to back him in the midterms.

Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Another voter group is abandoning President Donald Trump and his party ahead of the midterms.
Even one of the Republicans’ most loyal voting blocs—farmers—is now turning away, according to The Washington Post.
“I’m pretty disenfranchised as a voter right now, and I think I’m not the only one,” Scott Thomsen, a Nebraska farmer and three-time Trump voter, told the newspaper, adding that he may consider sitting out the upcoming November midterm elections.

Farmers listen to President Donald Trump deliver remarks from the Truman balcony of the White House.
OLIVER CONTRERAS/Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, more than 300 farms filed for bankruptcy last year, and the situation has reportedly worsened this year.
Rising fuel and fertilizer costs tied to the war in Iran, unstable markets rocked by the president’s trade war, and the spread of a newly detected flesh-eating parasite affecting warm-blooded animals in the U.S. have all intensified pressure on the sector.
“A lot of farmers today have lost and are losing faith and are feeling betrayed,” Joe Maxwell, president of Farm Action Fund, told the Washington Post. “They’re not seeing an ‘America First’ agenda,” he added.
Still, despite falling support among farmers and the president’s approval rating hitting new lows among rural voters, Trump has not appeared to take the situation seriously.
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In early June, Trump traveled to Wisconsin to reassure struggling farmers, but instead told them: “I don’t need this. I got elected. I don’t know, what the hell do I have to be here for?”
In response to a request for comment, a White House spokesperson said that “farmers suffered for years under Joe Biden” and that, in contrast to the former president, “President Trump is helping our agriculture industry by negotiating new trade deals, lowering input costs, bolstering the farm safety net, doubling the death tax exemption, ending taxes on rural property loan interest, creating rural opportunity zones, and more.”
The spokesperson added: “President Trump has advocated for our farmers unlike any of his predecessors, and the best is yet to come.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has also appeared to downplay farmers’ concerns and was criticized for claiming the Trump administration has made “great achievements” in her department that will usher in a “golden age” of farming.
“70% of American farmers can’t afford fertilizer. Expensive fertilizer means less food for a higher price. Nothing about that sounds ‘golden’ to me,” Democrat Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii wrote on X in response to Rollins.
Trump’s party needs as much support as possible from its most loyal voters, with polls showing Republicans trailing Democrats ahead of the midterms amid Trump’s record-low approval ratings, concerns about the economy, and the war in Iran.
Donald Trump is facing some of the weakest approval ratings of his political career.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
On Wednesday, Trump signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war. An estimate from Moody’s Analytics said the conflict has already cost U.S. consumers and taxpayers around $132 billion.
The president has also experienced a notable shift in voter sentiment among blue-collar white voters—once among his most steadfast supporters—with some now expressing regret over their vote, particularly over economic concerns.
“There’s clearly an opportunity for Democrats,” Maxwell told The Washington Post, adding, “The question is, will the Democrats seize that opportunity to make a difference at the ballot box?”
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