They Love The Carnage

Created
Tue, 18/02/2025 - 04:00
Updated
Tue, 18/02/2025 - 04:00
Axios conducted a focus group that I’m seeing touted all over the media as if it’s the Oracle of Delphi. I’ll let you be the judge if anyone should take this seriously: Every Arizona swing voter in our latest Engagious/Sago focus groups said they approve of President Trump’s actions since taking office — and most also support Elon Musk’s efforts to slash government. Public opinion can constrain presidents when Congress does not. But these 11 voters — all of whom backed Joe Biden in 2020 but switched to Trump last November — said they’re good with Trump aggressively testing disruptive, expansionist expressions of presidential power that are piling up in court challenges. It’s needed to “get America back on track,” one participant said. One notable area of disagreement with Trump: The idea of the U.S. displacing Palestinians and taking over and redeveloping Gaza. These swing voters want Trump to stick with Americans’ needs inside the U.S. Some would like to see him do more, sooner, to rein in consumer costs. But several said they don’t mind that Trump’s early actions haven’t primarily focused on inflation — even when that was their top issue in the election — and said they can be patient if prices don’t come down for a while. Several doubt the warnings that tariffs may translate to long-term price increases for American consumers. Several expressed views that “waste, fraud and abuse” are so prevalent that government agencies can be slashed or eliminated without hurting services on which they depend. The voters participated in two online focus…