Former MAGA Couple Says They Were ‘Dumb’ to Trust Trump

A longtime Republican couple who once filled their home with Trump merchandise now say they left the MAGA movement after President Donald Trump’s second term impacted them personally.

Ron and Chrissey Kelley, a couple from Georgia profiled by the group Leaving MAGA and reported by Raw Story, said their split from Trump began after his administration’s treatment of federal workers and immigration policies changed their view of the movement they once supported.

Ron Kelley, a veteran and federal employee, backed Trump in 2016. He grew tired of politicians and watched Fox News almost exclusively. He accepted the idea that white Christian men were under attack and believed Trump was the outsider the country needed.

“The first time Trump ran, I was tired of politicians and all their shenanigans,” Kelley said in the couple’s testimonial. “I watched Fox News exclusively and fell for the propaganda that white Christian males were under attack, that ‘they’ were trying to silence us.”

Kelley voted for Trump in 2016 and stayed loyal for years. He began questioning aspects of the conservative media narrative after the 2020 election and January 6, 2021.

By 2022, he no longer believed Trump’s false claim that the election had been stolen, but he still considered himself MAGA.

His view shifted sharply after Trump returned to office in January 2025, Kelley said. At that time, Kelley worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, inspecting buildings with Section 8 housing subsidies that needed repairs.

Kelley said Trump’s attacks on federal workers felt personal.

“He started spreading lies that federal workers were lazy, staying at home, not even turning on computers,” Kelley said. “It was like a slap in the face.”

Kelley also criticized DOGE, the Trump administration initiative tied to Elon Musk, saying it harmed federal agencies instead of helping them. He stated that employees had to list weekly accomplishments, and workers were fired for “performance issues” despite good reviews.

“They messed up everything; instead of making things better, they made them worse,” Kelley said.

He said new approval steps slowed grants for low-income housing projects and staff cuts left workers overwhelmed.

“There’s a whole new level of bureaucracy, so things are much more inefficient,” Kelley said. “My workload has become unbearable.”

Chrissey Kelley said she was also a strong Trump supporter before her political views shifted. She watched his rallies and believed what she heard from Fox News.

“When Trump ran the first time, I was his biggest fan,” she said. “I think I watched every rally on television. There wasn’t much thought process there; I believed whatever Fox said. I was clueless; I didn’t question anything.”

The couple said they also turned against Trump because of his deportation policies, constitutional issues, and the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

“We’re very upset about the mass deportation campaign, too,” Chrissey Kelley said. “Speaking as a Christian, I’ve researched Christian Nationalism, and that really woke me up.”

Ron Kelley said he now researches public records and compares official documents with Trump’s public statements.

“That’s what gets me so angry, the lies,” he said.

Chrissey Kelley said their political change has affected family relationships but has also led others in their circle to question their beliefs.

“I’m just thankful we’ve realized we were being misled about so many things,” she said.

Ron Kelley said his transformation is now complete.

“At the federal level, after a lifetime of being a Republican, now I’m a Democrat no matter what,” he said.