'I Voted For Trump, But I Didn't Vote For This'

After 100 days, Trump's in trouble with base + pictures from protests in tiny Pittsboro, NC

Isaac Newton’s third law of motion is that for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. This law of physics also applies to politics and history. A movement in one direction can spark an equal reaction in the opposite direction — sometimes a reformation, or maybe a counter-reformation.

The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term generated a tornado of 140+ executive actions ripping through the government— representing a forceful and reckless lurch to the right.

A countervailing wind is now forming in courts and in the public square.

The first mass mobilization against Trump’s actions was held in communities across the nation on Saturday, April 5, 2025. Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people participated. It was the first of many. Mobilize.us has a running list.

In tiny Pittsboro, NC, in Chatham County where I live, with a population of less than 5,000, more than 500 people showed up for the “Hands Off” rally. The northern parts of the county, near Chapel Hill and Durham, are liberal and Democratic, but the less populated southern and western parts of the county are more conservative and tend to swing with political and economic winds.

We must demand that our members of Congress, especially if we live in House districts represented by Republicans, defend the interests of constituents and engage in aggressive oversight of the executive branch rather than march in lockstep with Trump and Musk.

Not just the usual suspects — the 48 percent who voted for Kamala Harris — showed up. A portion of the participants in these demonstrations are from the 49.9 percent who voted for Trump and are now experiencing buyer’s remorse. They are already feeling economic pain as the stock market shifts into “bear” territory, tariffs fan inflation, federal grants and loans dry up, and layoffs loom.

“At 100 Days, Trump 2.0 is in trouble,” opined the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board. “The tariff shock he’s unleashed could sink his second term.”

Richard Hanania on Substack expresses the disillusionment of traditional conservatives who voted for Trump in 2024 and who admit they made a mistake.

What I Got Wrong about Trump

So many angry voters are showing up for the town forums of Republican members of Congress that Rep. Richard Hudson of NC, chairman of the House GOP’s campaign arm, issued an edict telling lawmakers to stop holding in-person public meetings. Hudson is such a hack, not too different from a Soviet apparatchik, spending his time in fundraising and political chess games