'Political faceplant': Ex-insider says GOP about to 'feel the wrath' of voters
The GOP is in for some "trouble," according to a former Republican strategist on Friday.
Conservative anti-Trump activist Rick Wilson, who co-founded the Lincoln Project and hosts the group's podcast, recently flagged a "crucial lie" that Donald Trump unwittingly exposed, causing adviser Stephen Miller to "weep."
Ahead of the weekend, Wilson dropped an article claiming that Trump's so-called "big, beautiful" bill is going to be "trouble for the GOP" no matter what.
"Pass it and feel the wrath of seniors thrown off Medicare and Medicaid. Kill it and feel the wrath of Wall Street donors. John Thune has a hard job right now, and the BBB is increasingly a poison pill for the GOP," Wilson wrote. "The extra landmines stuffed in the bill are making it worse. Much of it implements the Project 2025 agenda, and as such, deserves excision from the bill, but it’s too late for that."
He continued, saying, "Chances are, it will still pass, but the impact next fall will be severe. Why?"
"The polling on Donald Trump’s so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill' is, to put it mildly, a political faceplant. Across nearly every major survey, the numbers are brutal: Americans oppose the bill by nearly a two-to-one margin," he added. "A recent KFF Health Tracking Poll shows 64% unfavorable views versus just 35% support. Even among the GOP rank-and-file, cracks are showing—non-MAGA Republicans and independents are jumping ship fast, with only the hardcore Trumpist base clinging to the fantasy that this bloated fever dream of a bill is anything other than political napalm."
The "problem," according to Wilson, is, "Once voters learn almost anything about the bill, support slips."
"Once they hear the bill slashes hospital funding, jacks up the number of uninsured by millions, and guts Medicaid under the camouflage of 'work requirements,' support craters," he said. "Among independents, favorability drops like a stone once they learn the details, often by double digits. Even MAGA loyalists flinch when told the bill’s shiny slogans are backed by cruel math and bureaucratic bloodletting that makes DOGE look like high tea. What starts as populist red meat ends up looking like day-old roadkill."
In his conclusion, Wilson said it’s "a bill written in the Fox News green room and marketed to people who think policy is a vibes-based enterprise."
"The broader electorate sees it for what it is: a reckless, regressive, gold-plated disaster. For a party obsessed with ratings, Trump’s 'Big Beautiful Bill' is shaping up to be a box office bomb," he added on Friday.