A young Republican who voted for President Donald Trump to his second term in office is experiencing some voter’s remorse.
Thomas Maddox, a senior finance student at the University of Cincinnati, penned an opinion column in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Thursday that expressed his disappointment in the second Trump administration after having voted for it in 2024.
“As a young Republican who voted for Trump − even after being disappointed by his behavior in 2021 − I spent years defending him," Maddox, 22, said. “I defended him in conversations, debates, and writing because I believed the larger project he represented was bigger than the controversies surrounding him.”
Though Maddox admits he was charmed by the outsider persona Trump presented throughout his presidential campaigns, adding that Trump “felt real,” he says the president began to stray away from what made him so appealing.
Trump, 79, focused more on sowing division between himself and the press, and cared more about riling up his supporters than garnering the trust of the entire nation, Maddox said.
“Running for office and governing are two very different things. Campaigns reward spectacle and confrontation,” he wrote. “The presidency requires discipline, restraint, and a willingness to rise above it.”
“The office itself is supposed to be larger than the person holding it. It’s not a brand to expand or defend,” he continued. “It’s a stewardship of something that belongs to the country.”
Maddox said that Trump’s “chaotic” approach to immigration enforcement “appears driven more by spectacle than strategy,” and that the president’s excessive use of emergency powers undermines the intention of providing long-term solutions to problems.
He concluded that he and other Trump voters feel betrayed that the president no longer stands up for them, saying that Trump looks more like the system they thought he would break.
“Authenticity helped him win the presidency. But authenticity alone cannot unify a country this large and divided,” Maddox said. “The voters who stood up for Trump expected him to stand up for the country.”
“Too often now, it feels like he only stands up for himself.”
Reached for comment, Maddox told the Daily Beast over email that the president’s turn to “nonstop branding” was the nail in the coffin for his support.
“At times, it feels less like governing and more like The Apprentice in the White House,“ he said. ”I don’t think Trump sees himself as authoritarian, as some people claim—I think he’s in such a bubble that he genuinely believes he’s doing a tremendous job."
“The presidency is bigger than any one person. If you’re going to be tough, be tough on Putin and China—not your own constituents."
