Things are starting to unravel for President Donald Trump, even among the voters who once stood firmly in his corner. On “Runaway Country,” host Alex Wagner shared a striking moment from a congressional hearing where a veteran revealed his deep regret after voting for Trump—especially after his wife, who had lived in the U.S. for decades, was arrested by ICE.
“Why did you vote for him?” a member of Congress asked.
“Because I was an idiot,” the veteran responded. “Evangelical Christian people were lied to, if you really want to know the truth. And that’s exactly what happened.” He explained that he had believed only criminals would be deported, but instead, his wife—someone who had dedicated her life to helping others—was targeted. “My wife and I, when we don’t work, we’re ministers. We help the needy. That’s what we do. And that’s who they’re arresting.”
Wagner reacted to the clip by pointing out the broader sense of betrayal setting in among Trump’s supporters. “If you look at the bottom of the screen, this is a panel about rising health care costs, which is like the double whammy,” she told Nicole Wallace on MSNBC.
She didn’t hold back. “He is debasing Americans. He is tearing families apart. And the central premise of his reelection, which was to make America more affordable, is a complete fallacy, a complete lie.” Wagner said one person she spoke to saw their health insurance premium jump from $100 to $800 a month.
“It is one thing to just not deliver,” she added. “But to act in the way that he has, which is so dehumanizing, so cruel… this is why we are seeing the beginnings of real cracks with this president and his base.”