A resident of West Virginia, once an avid supporter of Trump, has shared her changed perspective on the president following her dismissal from a federal government position.
Jennifer Piggott, who had been employed at the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service under Trump’s tenure, was open about her support for Trump in the 2024 election.
Piggott found herself among 125 probationary employees who were terminated as part of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative spearheaded by Elon Musk to curtail the federal workforce and avoid taxpayer funds being misused.
In a conversation with CNN, Piggott described her previous enthusiasm for Trump, even wearing a Trump-Vance shirt and displaying their flag. However, she has since taken down the flag from her property.
Reflecting on her job loss, Piggott shared: “I cried. It’s scary. It’s a really scary thing and I was embarrassed.”
Piggott expressed her bewilderment at being dismissed due to what was allegedly termed as ‘poor performance’, despite having recently received a top performance rating less than three weeks before her termination.
When questioned about her vote for Trump, Piggott responded: “Yes I do. To cut the knees of the working class Americans just doesn’t make sense to me. I expected more from President Donald Trump.”
Piggott also mentioned receiving ‘death threats’ after publicly changing her stance, while other voters in West Virginia have chosen anonymity to avoid similar repercussions.
Another former Trump supporter, who left the Bureau of Fiscal Service to protect her health insurance, criticized the budget balancing approach, saying, “It’s just not right.”
In a Reuters interview, Piggott noted that those she talked to failed to grasp the impact of the administration’s actions on their lives. She remarked: “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.”
These sentiments are shared amid reports from The New York Times indicating a significant reduction of at least 49,110 federal jobs under Trump’s administration. While some of these positions have been temporarily reinstated by court orders, the directive to cut even more jobs remains in effect. The report from March 28 suggests that up to 12 percent of the civilian federal workforce, comprising 2.4 million employees, could be affected by these ongoing reductions.