{"id":14404,"date":"2025-02-24T18:09:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T18:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=14404"},"modified":"2025-02-24T18:12:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T18:12:21","slug":"how-colorado-trump-voters-feel-about-the-presidents-tumultuous-new-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=14404","title":{"rendered":"How Colorado Trump voters feel about the president\u2019s tumultuous new term"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By John King<\/strong>, CNN<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Rancher who voted for Trump three times shares his concerns<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Take a ride with David Hayes around his Colorado ranch and you learn right away he is a feisty, funny guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tried farming for a while,\u201d he told a visitor. \u201cI would rather get run over by a bison.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is just one bison remaining on the Spomer Ranch, down from 60 or 70 a few years ago. \u201cI\u2019m retiring,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cJust about 70 and my body isn\u2019t working too good anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trouble is the last bison\u2019s name. And Hayes was quick to add that trouble is what he sees in Washington one month into President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s second act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t like him as a person,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI think he is arrogant. Kind of a jerk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Hayes believes the federal workforce can be trimmed considerably. But to him, the current approach seems more impulsive than coherent. \u201cI\u2019m not sure (Trump) thought through the process,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like, \u2018Let\u2019s just get it over with and dump everybody.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, he doesn\u2019t trust or believe Elon Musk and bristles when he hears the billionaire and his team<\/a> are trying to gain access to sensitive tax and Social Security records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like it,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI don\u2019t think they should be in our business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayes rolled his eyes as he recounted Trump and Musk alleging there are numerous people allegedly between the ages of 100 and 150 claiming Social Security<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan you believe any of that crap?\u201d he said as we drove across the 100-acre ranch. \u201cYou can\u2019t substantiate it. You can\u2019t believe it. So that is a trust issue. \u2026 (Trump) is doing all this stuff and I don\u2019t think he understands the ramifications of what he is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a damning take from a blue-collar three-time Trump voter who lives in a rural area where Democrats have struggled in recent years. But Democrats should hold the celebration. We ask Hayes what he would choose if he could redo his 2024 vote now that he has watched Trump\u2019s tumultuous first month. \u201cI would still do Trump,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was a recurring theme as we visited Colorado\u2019s 8th Congressional District as part of our \u201cAll Over the Map\u201d project. The district stretches from the northern Denver suburbs to just south of the Wyoming border. It is 40% Hispanic, evenly divided politically and will be critical as House Republicans defend their tiny majority<\/a> in the 2026 midterms. The president\u2019s political standing is almost always the best midterm barometer, and on this first visit we focused on Trump voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d Esmeralda Ramirez-Ray said of Trump\u2019s frenetic first month. \u201cThat is what I voted for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She wholeheartedly backed Musk\u2019s march through federal agencies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why it surprises anybody,\u201d she said, noting Musk\u2019s big role in the final weeks of the campaign. \u201cYou haven\u2019t been paying attention if that is a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Asked where she gets her news, Ramirez-Ray listed Musk\u2019s X social media platform and the Epoch Times, a far-right publication known for its support of Trump and its history of criticizing vaccines and advancing conspiracy theories. \u201cI don\u2019t watch Fox,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t watch CNN. I don\u2019t watch ABC, NBC, any of that. \u2026 It\u2019s really hard for me to get news I can trust or that I can believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramirez-Ray was raised as a Democrat and said she and her parents faced backlash from other Latinos when they warmed to Trump back in 2016. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t believe someone of Hispanic origin would support somebody that was being labeled a racist. We didn\u2019t believe that he was, and we campaigned, and we voted for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, she sees a first month of keeping promises. She does air one disagreement with Trump \u2014 wishing he would change his tone when it comes to immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was raised as a migrant worker working in the fields,\u201d Ramirez-Ray said in an interview at her office in Greeley, 65 miles north of Denver. \u201cThose are the people out there picking their crops. So even though I support Trump, I don\u2019t believe he is the end-all, be-all savior of humanity. Nobody is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramirez-Ray works as an interpreter for court defendants who don\u2019t understand English, and many of her clients are undocumented immigrants who work in meatpacking plants, construction, farming or other jobs. She agrees that some undocumented immigrants are violent, but said she wishes Trump would understand \u201cthe majority of my clients who are here are good, honest people trying to make a living, and there should be a legal pathway for them to remain here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd Waufle founded Satire Brewing in 2018. It is in Thornton, a community 12 miles north of Denver, that Waufle describes as \u201c50-50\u201d politically and where one bipartisan complaint is the fast-moving suburban sprawl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe day after the election, yeah, it was 50-50,\u201d Waufle said. \u201cHalf the people were crying in their beers, really upset. I mean really emotional. \u2026 Then the other half are, like, high-fiving and cheering and jovial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Count Waufle among the jovial, then and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like him going full-speed,\u201d Waufle said of Trump. \u201cLet\u2019s get things done. Let\u2019s find out if the policies work, if they don\u2019t work. \u2026 I\u2019m all for him getting in action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Like Ramirez-Ray, Waufle has no issues with Musk and his work, at least not yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe can make things happen, too,\u201d Waufle said. \u201cYou got two guys in there playing, working.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that Waufle loves everything in the Trump agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business at the brewery is solid, and he constantly debates expanding. During a tour, Waufle shows us new fermentation tanks not yet in use and an open space where he wants to install canning machines so he can increase production and sales. But that is on hold for now because of Trump\u2019s tariffs on aluminum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you fly enough, you understand,\u201d he said of navigating the early days of the new Trump term. \u201cBuckle your seat belt. Turbulence ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he voiced confidence that things will ultimately settle to a point that he feels comfortable with his expansion plan. Waufle\u2019s approach is a trademark of many Trump voters: accept the things that make them cringe to get the things they believe Trump is best equipped to deliver, beginning with a better economy and a stronger border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a little pompous, arrogant,\u201d Waufle said. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily my style. But it works for him. \u2026 Trump is going to say what he is going to say and, yes, some of it is going to be exaggerated, some is not going to be true. But at the end of the day, I think you got to sift through all that. Is he going to get things done? Is he going to get the country moving the right way? Is the border going to get taken care of? Are we going to cut costs?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin Jenkins cast his November ballot hoping lower taxes and less regulation would help his family and small businesses, which include a cocktail bar and the Greeley Hatchet House \u2014 an axe-throwing venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think he is a little outrageous and wild at times,\u201d Jenkins, 28, said of Trump. \u201cI\u2019m not necessarily a Trump guy. I\u2019m just much more conservative in my opinions.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife\u2019s family are Democrats, and the conversation with Jenkins is rich with evidence that his politics are shifting as he starts a family and his businesses take root in Greeley\u2019s diverse community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have taught me a lot and it has softened my heart a lot, too,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He worries that Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a> will add costs and stress to small businesses already dealing with high costs and high interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And Jenkins sees fear in a Latino community he describes as vital to his businesses and the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got friends and family that we care about a lot and, like, they\u2019re nervous they are going to drop their kids off at school and somebody\u2019s going to grab them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenkins is all for a stronger border and a more organized immigration process. But he wishes Trump would accept the reality of communities such as Greeley that have significant numbers of undocumented workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe hardest-working people I\u2019ve ever met,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate what\u2019s happening. I think there is a better way to go about it. I don\u2019t know if it is necessarily just force them out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blizzard of executive actions<\/a> also is unsettling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought there\u2019s supposed to be checks and balances,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump won\u2019t be on the 2026 ballot, of course, and we are just a month into his new term. But if concerns like those Jenkins has about immigration, Musk and presidential power continue to grow, battleground Republicans such as freshman GOP Rep. Gabe Evans here could find a more difficult midterm climate. Evans won by a little more than 2,000 votes, and the district is already a top Democratic target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, though, what comes up most among voters here is the same issue that dominated the 2024 race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe big thing here is the cost of living is getting crazy here in Colorado,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cIt seems like everybody is kind of drowning a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayes, the soon-to-retire bison rancher, jokes that \u201ceggs are worth more than diamonds\u201d now. He also is trying to solve another cost-of-living issue that makes him cranky \u2014 not a good thing for any incumbent politician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have one drug that went from $4.60 in December to $45 in January,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cNobody knew why. It\u2019s those kinds of things that kind of tick a guy off a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John King, CNN Take a ride with David Hayes around his Colorado ranch and you learn right away he is a feisty, funny guy. “I tried farming for a while,” he told a visitor. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[85],"class_list":{"0":"post-14404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-slider","8":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14404"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14413,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14404\/revisions\/14413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}