So many Democrats and Republicans honestly think they'll be spared the negative consequences of their vote just because they demonstrated loyalty. These people are very clear on what they're going to do to you, whether it's Trump saying he's going to deport 20,000,000 people or Nancy Pelosi saying 'We're capitalists" and we're going to profit while we let our golf buddies rob you of your labor.
This is what the Cuban gentleman voted for, and it's unreasonable that he expected to be spared.
The difference being that democrats largely recognize the deficiencies of their party. You also don't see the party rallying behind the Menendez/Weiner/Blagojevich types. This is the advantage the Republicans have - blind, unquestionable allegiance, for better or worse.
I know people like this. For some reason people affected by different policies are surprised because they thought he was kidding. Deportations? Na, he's not actually gonna do that. Tarrifs? Na, he wouldn't do that.