Fired Federal Worker Who Voted for Donald Trump Cries Foul Over Online Backlash As Regret Sets In

For 15 minutes, Ryleigh Cooper stared at her presidential ballot, conflicted over who to vote for, she said.

She did not want to vote for Donald Trump. She had voted for Joe Biden four years earlier. Cooper, 24, who lives in rural Michigan, abhorred the Republican nominee’s treatment of women. She was sexually assaulted at 16, so she was sensitive when Trump’s defenders, including members of her own family, said the women accusing the president of sexual assault either made it up or asked for it.

“As someone who is more of a swing voter, sometimes that’s what it comes down to. Those single issues … that are resonating with you at this moment,” Cooper, whose story was featured Thursday in The Washington Post, told CNN. For her, the single issue was infertility.

Cooper was trying to get pregnant, and she had seen the Republican nominee pledge, in a clip that aired on TikTok, that he would make IVF treatment free. For Cooper, one single cycle of IVF costs more than 10 percent of her annual household income. She and her husband were already struggling to pay the bills, with groceries running nearly $400 a month, Cooper told The Post.

With that in mind, and dreams of the daughter she hoped to have, Cooper made the decision to vote for Trump.

“I’ve been dealing with infertility for a year,” she told CNN.

“The thing on my mind was the same thing I’ve been thinking of the past 11 months,” Cooper said. “I want to be a mom.”

Now, four months later, it’s a vote she wishes she had back. “I do feel regret,” Cooper said.

Her life is in upheaval, and her faith that Trump will make her situation any better has diminished.

The bad news started on the second Thursday in February. Cooper, who worked for the U.S. Forest Service, was aware of the purge of government employees but figured, with a yearly salary of $40,000, she was safe. She was not. Her union leader called with the bad news.

“My heart just sank,” Cooper told CNN Thursday night.

Probationary workers in the Forest Service were the next to be fired by the man she voted for. Cooper’s job, marking trees for local loggers, was obsolete, according to her union head.

It was something she hadn’t figured on when voting for Trump. He talked of creating jobs, not slashing them. And Cooper had done well, receiving the highest rating possible in her performance evaluation.

She was even gearing for a promotion that would nearly double her salary. That could help her and her husband buy a house a few counties over, with better schools.

Now, she has nothing. Her health insurance expired with her job, along with the 12 weeks of paid maternity leave that was guaranteed.

Some federal health plans cover IVF treatments or at least a portion of the costs. A total of 45 options covering IVF are available in 25 different Federal Employee Health Benefits Program plans, and all carriers are required to cover three cycles of IVF-related drugs.

She still held out hope that Trump would make good on his promise of free IVF. Five days after her dismissal, Cooper was in bed with her husband when she saw the news on her phone of a new executive order to expand access to IVF. Trump made some policy recommendations to reduce costs of the service.

But it wouldn’t be free. Noting the White House’s announcement that the president was “Delivering on promises for American families,” Cooper blanched.

“That’s bulls—” she recalled thinking.

Since the Post article appeared, Cooper said she’s received a torrent of hate online.

“People online get very brave,” she told CNN. “I’ve had people tell me they hope I never have a child. That I got exactly what I deserve.”

“I’ve also received an immense amount of support, especially from women who’ve gone through IVF. It’s a terrible, lonely process,” she continued. “I’m really glad some people have reached out with understanding, and they send me hope.”

The antipathy has come from both sides, as seen in the comments section under an article about her situation that appeared on Raw Story, a progressive news aggregator.

“Greedy racist Cooper voted for Trump. Now she and all Americans suffer,” wrote one reader. “No sympathy for really stupid. Hope she never gets another job since that is what she was wishing on other Americans and immigrants.”

Wrote another, “hahahahahaha……Non sympathy for her. She deserves all the hardship that is coming to her and I’m here to enjoy it!”