This Focus Group Should Absolutely Terrify TrumpThey voted for Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024. And they aren’t happy with what they’re seeing, especially in Minneapolis.
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS FRANTICALLY trying to recalibrate its deportation policies in the aftermath of Saturday’s killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, with the president shuffling leadership and toning down some of his sharpest rhetoric. The feedback from a focus group we conducted on Monday explains why. The group consisted of eight voters, gathered together on Zoom from different parts of the country, all of whom had voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and then for Trump in 2024. They represent a small sliver of the electorate, but one that was instrumental in bringing Trump back to the Oval Office after four years in exile. We chose those voters because they can serve as a weather vane for the public perception of the president’s second term. More importantly, their responses echo those of focus groups conducted prior to the shooting of Pretti, an ICU nurse, by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis. The Trump administration’s slide in the polls on immigration, and more broadly, has been well documented on The Focus Group Podcast in recent weeks. But the focus group conducted on Monday was especially jarring. Each of the participants was acutely aware of the Pretti killing. And each expressed a degree of horror with the Trump administration’s handling of deportations—though some more than others. A number offered deep regret for their 2024 vote. Rex, a 55-year-old from California, described Trump’s second term as “the biggest rug-pull in history.” Over the course of nearly two hours, the focus group provided testimonials that underscore just how perilous the once-winning issue of immigration has become for Trump. But it also spotlighted something larger: The president has lost his grip on his winning electoral coalition, whose members increasingly feel as if he’s betrayed them and brought the country to a state of chaos. The respondents agreed to be identified on a first-name-only basis with their age and state of location. A sampling of their responses is below... Join The Bulwark to unlock the rest.Become a paying member of The Bulwark to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. A subscription gets you:
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This Focus Group Should Absolutely Terrify Trump
January 27, 2026
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