Donald Trump has managed to lose the support of some of his most fanatical fans, dealing another potential blow to the GOP ahead of the midterms.
For years, a group of MAGA supporters has dubbed themselves the “Front Row Joes” for their dedication to following Trump around the country and making sure they are right at the barriers to watch the president’s political rallies.
However, two prominent members of the support group—Trisha Hope and Rick Frazier—have denounced the 80-year-old president during his tumultuous second term, with one being so let down by Trump that they may not even vote in the midterms.
“Epstein crimes and feeding the industrial military complex … those are big nos for me,” Frazier, a founding Front Row Joes member, told Politico’s Playbook. “He promoted himself as a no-war president. That didn’t work out.”
“I’m to the point of not going to the polls in November.”
Frazier estimates he has attended more than 100 Trump rallies but is now willing to cut ties with the president completely.
Hope also expressed similar disgust with the president, citing the war in Iran and the botched handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files as major reasons why she is deserting him.
“He’s said the war is over 600 different times. He tells us they don’t have a military, they don’t have a navy. They’re still blowing up things,” she said. “It’s just all lies.”
Hope added that she felt “a dagger in my heart” when Trump dismissed interest in the Epstein files during a July 8, 2025, Cabinet meeting featuring then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years,” Trump said, despite campaigning in 2024 to release all the federal files linked to the late pedophile to appease his MAGA base.
“It was like a light switch went on and a veil lifted, and I saw him for who he was, and I have not been able to unsee it since,” Hope told Playbook.
Hope joined Front Row Joes in 2018 after gaining prominence within MAGA circles for publishing a book consisting of nothing but Trump’s social media posts, called Just the Tweets.
Hope has since become a vocal critic of Trump, including calling him out in July for pointing out the Front Row Joes at a rally in Georgia and suggesting they are “very rich.”
“This shows me how absolutely clueless he is on what these folks have sacrificed in order to support him,” Hope posted on X while sharing the remarks. “They DO NOT MAKE MONEY!! In fact it costs them a GREAT deal of money and time to attend.”
A White House official said the claim that Trump’s MAGA base is distancing from the president “could not be further from the truth.”
“President Trump is still the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party. All year, President Trump has traveled around the country sharing the achievements of his administration with Republicans,” the official added. “There is absolutely no distance between them.
One of the more prominent members of the Front Row Joes is Blake Marnell, who is easy to spot at Trump rallies due to his orange brick suit.
He said he was not surprised that some members of the group have turned on Trump. “I think it’d be more surprising if you took any American president and tracked the people who followed him over time and didn’t find signs of disillusionment,” he told Playbook.
Sean Spicer, a former White House press secretary from Trump’s first term, said it is concerning that even ardent Trump supporters are turning on the president ahead of the midterms and raises fears about the GOP’s post-Trump future.
“Can another candidate even really pull off a rally?” Spicer said. “It’s like asking where Deadheads go after the Grateful Dead broke up.”
