A recent NPR report, based on online focus groups, sheds light on the sentiments of Pennsylvania swing voters regarding former President Trump's first year back in office. The focus groups involved 14 individuals who had previously supported Joe Biden in 2020 but shifted their allegiance to Donald Trump in the 2024 election. These voters included seven Republicans, six independents, and one Democrat.
A significant finding from the focus groups indicated that a majority of these swing voters, specifically eight out of 14, expressed disapproval of Trump's job performance in his first year of his second term. Despite their criticism of Trump, many participants also voiced negative opinions about Democrats, describing them with terms such as "weak" and "broken".
A key point of discussion and source of frustration among these voters was the performance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), particularly in the aftermath of the shooting death of Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis. While eight voters believed ICE was generally "getting things about right," six felt that the agency had "gone too far" in its actions. There was a notable level of awareness and division concerning the blame for the January 7 shooting incident. Some voters, like Hassan C., an independent, directly blamed the ICE agent involved in the shooting.
Furthermore, some voters who had supported Trump in 2024 due to his perceived anti-war stance expressed disappointment with his actions in office. One voter, identified as Jeremy, specifically cited Trump's focus on Venezuela and Greenland and his engagement in military conflicts as contrary to his campaign promises to avoid such engagements, stating that Trump "ran very strongly opposing war and opposing military conflicts around the world. And now he's just going left and right and starting them". This suggests a desire for the president to prioritize domestic issues and the economy over international military interventions.