#Trumpgret expands, but not for all

Addie Gall

#Trumpgret, a hashtag Donald Trump voters have used to express their unhappiness and disappointment via social media, has ballooned in popularity since Trump came into office.

Trump has been president for 378 days. Now, more than a year into his presidency, some of his original supporters regret voting for him.

One post on reddit claims to have found a tweet that reads, “I voted for you but you have been such a disappointment. As much as I disliked Hillary I wonder if the USA would have been better off with her as president. As much as you believe her to be ‘crooked,’ she is a saint compared to you or any of your White House staff.”

Though the hashtag has created an outlet for those frustrated with their decision, not all supporters have participated in the social media movement.

Kaitlin Bennett, a senior biology major and president of Kent State’s chapter of Turning Point USA said she doesn’t feel #Trumpgret. She likes Trump because he’s not afraid to call out both sides.

“I think Trump is very America-first, and I think the Republicans who have been against him have shown their true colors — that they aren’t,” Bennett said.

Bennett said ending lottery basis immigration has been one of Trump’s successes. She said she has been a Trump supporter from the start of his candidacy and is happy with his achievements thus far — and perhaps even his controversy.

“What interested me was that nobody liked him and that everyone was freaking out about everything he said,” Bennett said.

Not all Trump voters, however, were supporters from the beginning. In the primaries, some favored other candidates.

Jonathan Lund, a sophomore paralegal studies major, originally supported Ted Cruz.

“I voted for Trump because there was no one else,” Lund said.

Lund said he doesn’t feel #Trumpgret a year later and added he hopes the economy will keep growing under the Trump administration.

Stevan Krainovich, a junior political science major, voted for Trump, but said his rhetoric is a problem.

“If you just look at policy-wise, I would say he’s done really good things,” Krainovich said. “But when he tweets, it discredits everything he’s done.”

Krainovich didn’t support Trump until the general election. First he backed Jeb Bush, and then Marco Rubio — until they dropped out of the race.

“I was still skeptical about it until the end,” Krainovich said.

While Trump was not Krainovich’s ideal candidate, he does not regret his decision to vote for him. He said overall the first year has been good, even with the bad that accompanied it.

“You don’t have to like the person in office, but you want him to do good,” Krainovich said. “There’s people that I don’t like, but I don’t want to see them fail because then that fails us as a country.”

Addie Gall is a student politics reporter. Contact her at [email protected]