‘Thanks a lot, Trump’: Wyoming conservatives divided ahead of US midterms

Famous for its cowboy culture, Wyoming is the least populated, the most rural and the most conservative of all the US states. With two weeks remaining before the midterm elections, reporters James André and Sylvain Rousseau traveled across this Republican stronghold and found that the party of US President Donald Trump is deeply divided.

As news networks typically orient themselves toward swing states that determine election outcomes, France 24 chose a different path and visited the redest of the red states: Wyoming. In 2024, Wyoming voters handed an outright majority to the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, a hardright organization that emerged following the rise of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Wyoming was the first and only state to grant this national movement a decisive plurality. Looking ahead to the 2026 primaries, the Freedom Caucus sought a supermajority in the state legislature, but the group suffered a stunning rebuke from voters, losing its majority in the state House of Representatives and shedding official posts.

This electoral loss carries weight because the Freedom Caucus represents the local manifestation of “ultra-Trumpism.” For two years, its lawmakers adopted a hardline version of Trump’s methodology and agenda. They enacted budget cuts and introduced legislation aligned with conservative ideology. Their efforts targeted education reform, abortion, and LGBTQ+ rights, while simultaneously attacking the state’s residual Democratic presence and labeling moderate Republicans as traitors to the party. Meanwhile, traditional forces within the Republican establishment coalesced to reclaim the party’s direction. Political action committees invested heavily in Wyoming’s 580,000 residents, leveraging the state’s demographic profiles—characterized by a homogeneous population and two powerful US Senate seats—as easy targets for a campaign.

The resulting picture is one of intense ideological warfare. The investigation delves inside the rift between the ultra-conservative bloc and the more moderate establishment. A central paradox emerges: Wyomingites are distancing themselves from Donald Trump, yet they remain loyal to the GOP regardless of the leader’s actions.

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