COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — In a neon-lit bar in northern Kentucky, a group of young Republicans recently convened, trading jokes and dissecting the presidential administration they had once enthusiastically supported. Their initial high hopes for Donald Trump have since soured into profound frustration.
Nathaniel Showalter, 34, seated before a spray-painted concrete pillar, articulated a common sentiment: “I absolutely do not regret voting for Trump in 2024. I can’t wait for him to get out of office.”
The conversation that evening, held under the bar’s dim illumination, revealed a deep-seated feeling that the Republican establishment – an entity they initially praised Trump for challenging but now perceive him as upholding – has abandoned them. This growing dissatisfaction is widening a generational chasm between younger and older conservatives as the party contemplates a future post-Trump.
The bar attendees criticize Trump’s engagement in a war with Iran as a betrayal of his campaign pledges. They navigate an economy that appears no steadier than before his presidency. And they lament the alleged ‘assassination’ of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative activist they considered their sole influential voice within the White House.
Furthermore, the primary defeat of Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who had garnered a youthful, anti-establishment following in his clashes with Trump, deprived them of a key congressional ally.
“There seems to be an organized effort to exclude the next generation on the right,” remarked TJ Roberts, the 28-year-old state representative and group leader, the only one present in a suit. “There’s this sense of entitlement among the establishment on the right. ‘Well, I’m better than the alternative.’ Sure, but a stomach flu is preferable to stomach cancer. I’d rather have neither.”
Roberts orchestrates these monthly political discussions. He expressed concern that young people like those at the bar are “going to live a shorter, less prosperous life than your parents.”
“We have to ensure that young Republicans have a voice in Washington, D.C.,” he emphasized.
Among the boisterous, all-male group, ranging from their 20s to 30s, gathered around a low, kaleidoscopic table, the frustration was palpable. They exchanged ribald humor and debated, occasionally mimicking Trump or conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
While opinions on Trump’s second term varied, anger over the war with Iran was a unifying sentiment.
Michael Gartman, 32, described ‘Operation Epic Fury’ not only as “a complete betrayal of his promises,” but also as proof that their voices are being silenced by a political establishment, defense contractors, and major donors perceived as pushing Israel’s agenda.
Logan Edge, a 30-year-old gun lobbyist with a Hawaiian shirt and Lincoln-esque beard, mimicked Trump discussing Miriam Adelson, the billionaire Trump once credited for advising him on Israel. “‘Oh Miriam, she’s over there, she loves Israel, maybe more than America,’” he impersonated, before dropping the intonation to add, “You can’t piss on my shoes and tell me it’s raining.”
Across from Edge sat Andrew Cooperrider, 33, host of a conservative podcast on Kentucky politics, and his 14-year-old son, Leo. Leo’s aspiration to be an underwater welder prompted his father to interject: “And I said absolutely not, not with everything going on, my son is not getting into the military right now and go fight these wars for these psychopaths.”
“Thank you!” a voice echoed as Cooperrider clarified that Leo could pursue the trade civically.
Edge recounted a poignant visit to Arlington National Cemetery with his father, a Desert Storm and Iraq veteran. Using a phone app to locate grave sites, he and his father spent the day finding fallen comrades. “And me and my dad spent the day finding his friends. And it was very emotional, very tough. And you can get on the Metro and go to the next Metro stop and the first thing you see is Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and I said to my dad, ‘Look what you’re about to see.’”
He paused, visibly moved. “It brings tears to my eyes,” he said, pushing his chair back. Roberts asked if he was alright.
“Why do my friends have to be over there?” questioned Angel Figueroa, 27, a military veteran with friends currently deployed in the Middle East. “It would devastate me to see one of my friends getting bombed one day and what, I have to see their box now?”
Most considered a military draft unlikely. However, Elijah Drysdale, 27, wearing a backward cap over a red-haired mullet, stated that its mere discussion “speaks volumes to me, and it’s why we need a change in leadership.”
Despite his reservations about the Republican establishment, Roberts was a rare voice at the gathering who approved of Trump’s second term. He asserted that the party “under President Donald Trump is without doubt the best Republican Party I have seen in my entire lifetime, the old order is dead.”
“It’s dying,” someone corrected.
“No, it’s gone,” Roberts countered. “Trump shifted the culture so well that these conversations you’re hearing right now, this would be unacceptable in the Republican Party of 2014.”
Roberts believes there is now greater willingness to oppose foreign military interventions, corporate bailouts, and aid to countries like Ukraine and Israel. The party has also adopted a stricter stance on immigration, which found favor with those present.
“I do think Trump started the (establishment’s) downfall, I think it’s only being kept alive now by him,” said the elder Cooperrider, citing Trump’s endorsement of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and his opposition to Massie.
John Wardrop, 24, sporting a short-sleeve button-up and a large belt buckle, believed “we could do a whole lot better.” He suggested hope in some administration figures like Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Vice President JD Vance.
Drysdale presented a more critical view of Trump: “I’m actually in disagreement. I think that he broke a lot of his promises.” He contended that any association with the current administration would be “a stain on your reputation. This isn’t the party that we want, this isn’t the party that we voted for, or thought we were voting for.”
When asked if they could envision voting for a Democrat, Henry Hecht, a 26-year-old libertarian sipping a cocktail adorned with a pirate flag, tentatively raised a hand and shrugged.
“What’s he doing here?” Cooperrider exclaimed in mock anger. “Get him out of here, somebody get the log!”
The sense of despair was exacerbated by the perceived loss of a clear successor to Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. Roberts suggested Kirk had acted as “a mediator, so Trump understood where young Republicans were coming from.”
The group cited instances where Republican lawmakers, in their view, betrayed conservative values and promises, such as the extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the escalating national debt.
Massie’s challenges to the White House on these and other matters led Trump to endorse a primary challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, whose campaign prioritized loyalty to the president.
Gallrein’s recent victory underscored Trump’s formidable influence over the party, yet simultaneously intensified frustration with his leadership in other factions.
“We cannot really fight the left until we defeat these old, boomer Republicans,” Edge declared. “The left is organized, the left is institutionalized, they’re smart, they’re tactical, they’re not a joke, they don’t play.”
“We look at our own organization on our side and say, ‘We’re a little lost,’” Cooperrider added, implying greater mobilization among younger liberals.
“Why don’t right-wingers do it?” Hecht inquired.
“My question is: why would you when, for so long, the right has been joking about their promises?” Roberts responded.
“It creates an endless cycle,” he concluded. “Eventually that cycle has to break.”
