After spending months trying to get Trump voters to express regret for their support of the President, on Thursday, NBC News political analyst Nicolle Wallace took to the Today show to eagerly announce that she finally found a regretful supporter. He turned out to a liberal millennial who backed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary before voting for Donald Trump in the general election.
Wallace led off the segment by reminding viewers of her crusade to understand Trump voters: “So we began this journey five months ago with the goal of meeting and listening to the people that many of us missed during the campaign. And this morning, one of them has something to say that he says isn’t easy.”
She noted that “we’ve been hitting the road across five states” talking to “Democrats, first-time voters and even Bernie Sanders supporters” who “all ended up voting for Donald Trump.” Returning to one of those communities, Bay City, Michigan, Wallace discovered that “one-time Bernie supporter” Jason DeFrain who “cast his first-ever presidential vote for Donald Trump,” was now a Trump critic.
After first speaking to DeFrain in February for an earlier Today show segment, Wallace announced: “But in less than two months, Jason’s enthusiasm has turned to anger.” A soundbite ran of DeFrain complaining: “I feel like I was bamboozled. I really do. Geez, he fooled me, and I kind of feel dumb. And I feel mad and I kind of feel dumb, honestly.”
Wallace wondered: “How did the President lose the support of a guy who cheered for him during his first speech to Congress?” DeFrain explained: “...more Russia stuff started piling up, he talks about being wiretapped, he’s on Twitter saying this about this person.” Wallace chimed in: “But Jason says this was the deal breaker, the attack on Syria, tough talk on North Korea, and the massive bomb dropped on ISIS in Afghanistan.”
DeFrain proceeded to launch into a typical left-wing anti-war rant:
I don’t want to see the news special of another local Saginaw teenager brought home in a casket with a flag over it. I don’t want to see that. I think he’s just going to put more people at danger now. We’re going to invade another country, there’s no way around it. The way he’s acting right now, it’s gonna happen. There’s gonna be boots on the ground. And it’s what he said wasn’t gonna happen. It’s one of the reasons I voted for him. He’s putting us at danger, and that’s not okay. I'm worried about the future of my family.
During her previous reports on Trump’s backers, Wallace lamented that she could find no “buyer’s remorse” and repeatedly admonished them for supporting the President’s “un-American” policies like the travel ban. To her chagrin, the voters she talked to consistently defied her attempts to get them to criticize the commander-in-chief.
Now that she actually found a Trump supporter who flipped, Wallace did offer a word of caution to Democrats: “But if Democrats are smelling blood in the water, there’s this warning.” “Are the Democrats doing or saying anything that makes any more sense to you now than Hillary Clinton did during the campaign?,” she asked DeFrain. He replied, “No. Neither of them are. There’s no middle anymore. Nobody wants to work together...it’s disappointing.”
Following the taped portion of the segment, Wallace admitted: “I think, you know, in fairness to Donald Trump, this is the softest part of his coalition. These are all lifelong Democrats who voted for him in these really economically challenged states. And so for them to see him focused on a foreign policy that he never talked about as a candidate is really alarming.”
A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 96% of Trump voters had no regrets in their support for him and that if the election were held today he still would have defeated Hillary Clinton.
Here is a full transcript of Wallace’s April 27 report:
7:41 AM ET
MATT LAUER: 7:41, we are back with our ongoing series In Trump They Trust. Nicolle Wallace has been traveling the country talking to the voters who elected President Trump.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: So how are they feeling about his presidency as it nears Saturday’s symbolic 100-day mark? Nicolle, good morning.
LAUER: Hi, Nicolle.
NICOLLE WALLACE: Good morning, guys. So we began this journey five months ago with the goal of meeting and listening to the people that many of us missed during the campaign. And this morning, one of them has something to say that he says isn’t easy.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: “In Trump They Trust”; Supporters Weigh In On Start of Presidency]
WALLACE: Brad Kloska knew he was taking a big leap when he voted for Donald Trump.
BRAD KLOSKA: I mean, I was a Democrat. You know, my grandpa, my dad, they were union guys, so I never even thought about voting for a Republican.
WALLACE: But he never thought flipping sides would create this much chaos.
KLOSKA: It just seems to be a real mess in Washington right now, I know that’s for sure. It’s almost like they’re damn near playing childish games against each other.
WALLACE: Since January, we’ve been hitting the road across five states, meeting Americans just like Brad, Democrats, first-time voters...
HOLLY LAPLANT: We need some changes made.
WALLACE: ...and even Bernie Sanders supporters. They all ended up voting for Donald Trump. We’ve come back to Bay County, Michigan, which went red for the first time since Ronald Reagan.
WALLACE [TO TRUMP VOTERS, FEBRUARY 14]: None of you had ever voted for a Republican?
JASON: Correct. I used to not vote.
KLOSKA: Never
WALLACE: It’s where I first met Brad, along with his neighbor Jason.
JASON DEFRAIN: I’m all about shaking it up.
WALLACE: A one-time Bernie supporter, who at 29 years old, cast his first-ever presidential vote for Donald Trump.
DEFRAIN: He has answers, we don’t always like them, sometimes he offends the crap out of people, but he has an answer.
WALLACE: But in less than two months, Jason’s enthusiasm has turned to anger.
DEFRAIN: I feel like I was bamboozled. I really do. Geez, he fooled me, and I kind of feel dumb. And I feel mad and I kind of feel dumb, honestly.
WALLACE: How did the President lose the support of a guy who cheered for him during his first speech to Congress?
DEFRAIN [JANUARY 20]: It almost sounded progressive-ish. I mean he’s really open, willing to work with both sides of the fence.
DEFRAIN [PRESENT DAY]: Four days after that, maybe, more Russia stuff started piling up, he talks about being wiretapped, he’s on Twitter saying this about this person.
WALLACE: But Jason says this was the deal breaker, the attack on Syria, tough talk on North Korea, and the massive bomb dropped on ISIS in Afghanistan.
DEFRAIN: I don’t want to see the news special of another local Saginaw teenager brought home in a casket with a flag over it. I don’t want to see that. I think he’s just going to put more people at danger now. We’re going to invade another country, there’s no way around it. The way he’s acting right now, it’s gonna happen. There’s gonna be boots on the ground. And it’s what he said wasn’t gonna happen. It’s one of the reasons I voted for him. He’s putting us at danger, and that’s not okay. I'm worried about the future of my family.
KLOSKA: I have to give the man some time to get some things done. There’s no way I could flip after a hundred days and say he’s a terrible president.
WALLACE: So Brad, the guy who voted for President Obama twice, isn’t ready to bail.
KLOSKA: You know, I think he’s stepping back a little bit from where – you know, what he campaigned on, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing yet.
WALLACE: Would you support further action in Syria?
KLOSKA: No, not right now. Seeing all those children dying on camera, I mean, that was just – that’s terrible, you know. And I believe – you know, that would move anybody emotionally. We don’t need to get in a war with Syria.
WALLACE: Are you eager to see him turn in a more focused way toward the economic promises he made as a candidate?
KLOSKA: I’d be pretty upset if he didn’t do anything about N.A.F.T.A. That’s why I wanted him, was for trade, you know? That was the big thing. If he ignores it, I don’t think he’ll have a chance.
WALLACE: But if Democrats are smelling blood in the water, there’s this warning. Are the Democrats doing or saying anything that makes any more sense to you now than Hillary Clinton did during the campaign?
DEFRAIN: No. Neither of them are. There’s no middle anymore. Nobody wants to work together, it doesn’t seem – and it’s just – it’s disappointing.
KLOSKA: You know, the left just still can’t believe that Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton. They still can’t deal with it.
WALLACE: You’re going to punish your Senators or your Congress people if they don’t back his agenda?
KLOSKA: Yeah, definitely, there’s no doubt about it. And there are things that Democrats have preached about for years anyway. Why they don’t back it now is just pure hate for Trump.
WALLACE: If he sat down there, what advice would you give him today?
DEFRAIN: Delete your Twitter account until you can act like a grownup and stop trying to kill people in other countries. Fix America. America first, Donald. Which camera? America first, Donald. Not Syria. Not anybody else. America.
WALLACE: That’s what he promised you?
DEFRAIN: That’s what he promised me, and he’s not doing that.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Wow.
WALLACE: Yeah.
GUTHRIE: So you have a change of heart from one but not the other, saying, “You know what, we’ve got to give this president some time.”
WALLACE: Yeah, I mean, I think the difference between the Democrats and his base and the Republicans and his base is that the Democrats weren’t looking for a Supreme Court pick. They were looking for this America first promise, this commitment to focusing on our problems here at home. I think, you know, in fairness to Donald Trump, this is the softest part of his coalition. These are all lifelong Democrats who voted for him in these really economically challenged states. And so for them to see him focused on a foreign policy that he never talked about as a candidate is really alarming.
LAUER: And you’re going to follow these people and stay in touch.
WALLACE: Forever.
LAUER: You told me they all have your phone number, which is good.
WALLACE: They do. Yes, I’m the guest that keeps coming back.
GUTHRIE: Nicolle, thank you.
