Jennifer Piggott proudly hung a red-and-blue Trump campaign flag outside her one-story home during the November election race. Now, after she was abruptly fired from her civil service job, her days of supporting the president are over.
Piggott is among more than 125 people dismissed in February from the Treasury Department's Bureau of Fiscal Service in Parkersburg, West Virginia, unsettling a community that voted overwhelmingly for Republican President Donald Trump.
"Nobody that I've talked to understood the devastation that having this administration in office would do to our lives," Piggott, 47, told Reuters in an interview, saying she would not have supported Trump if she knew then what she knows now."As much as I think that President Trump is doing wonderful things for the country in some regards, I don't understand this at all," she said.
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Roger Conley is a Trump supporter who left the Republican Party last year because he thought it was too liberal.In a Facebook post before BFS workers were cut, Conley said DOGE was acting like any successful business in boosting efficiency and wondered why anyone would question its moves to lower costs.
Then his son lost his job at BFS, according to union members.
In a February 20 Facebook post, Conley said while he still backed Trump, he questioned the need to fire so many people so quickly and whether Musk was the right person to lead the effort.
When reached by phone, Conley declined to comment. His son did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this story.
Meanwhile Piggott, who like other fired probationary employees received no severance, faces an uncertain future. She said she and her husband, a disabled military veteran, have been discussing ways to make ends meet including selling their home.
One veteran caught up in the BFS layoffs was Chauncy James, who was promoted twice during his 18 months at BFS, the second time to building maintenance.
James, 42, said he too worries about making his mortgage payment and feeding his five children. At last week's rally he marched with a sign criticizing Musk and said he regretted voting for Trump.
"They are pretty much just coming here, chopping heads off, without really doing their homework," James said. "He got elected president and he's doing a lot of things that people never even imagined that he was going to do to us."![]()
"Graugnard said he does not regret voting for Trump."
Hold hands with these folks if you want to in solidarity
And they are incapable of abstract thought. There is no way to bridge the gap with these neanderthals. That's why it makes no sense to keep this country as is.Man, I have an unhealthy amount of disdain for these people. These people are just trash. They never reconsider their positions until it impacts them directly. Every single fukking time. As long as it doesn't impact them directly, they'll happily watch other people they don't like suffer. This is why I say the difference between liberals/leftists and conservatives is deeper than ideology. There's a cognitive difference there
Conservatives just lack empathy and compassion for others. The right votes with the intent on hurting others. Those of us on the left vote to reduce harm on others, even if it isn't directly benefiting us. We recognize that a more equitable and inclusive society is better for us all. Conservatives are incapable of thinking in that dimension.
I agree. I think its actually the only pathway forward to peace too. We cannot keep going through this every four years. What Republicans want for the country is vastly different from what Liberals/Leftist want.And they are incapable of abstract thought. There is no way to bridge the gap with these neanderthals. That's why it makes no sense to keep this country as is.
Let West Virginia, Alabama and the rest of these backwards states live in the past while the rest of us are allowed to move forward and laugh at the hell they would willingly put themselves in.
Preaching to the choir.I agree. I think its actually the only pathway forward to peace too. We cannot keep going through this every four years. What Republicans want for the country is vastly different from what Liberals/Leftist want.
The past 10 years of Trump has shown us there really isn't any finding common ground with these people. They've only gotten more extreme.
California, the Pacific Northwest, parts of the midwest (Minnesota, Illinois, and perhaps Mich), and the east coast need to form regional blocs, integrate their economies and National Guard units and pass legislation to remitt all federal taxes to the states.
There should also be an orderly and humane program to relocate disgruntled conservatives to solid red states. And vice versa. This is the only we can avoid civil war at this point.