‘There are a lot of bitter people here, I’m one of them’: rust belt voters on why they backed Trump again despite his broken promises
‘There are a lot of bitter people here, I’m one of them’: rust belt voters on why they backed Trump again despite his broken promises
Many in Youngstown, Ohio, believe the president-elect will tackle the town’s decline this time. Others are worried about his character flaws. Their concerns help explain how he returned to power – and how his second term might play out
The last time Donald Trump was president, he travelled to Youngstown, Ohio, among the most depressed of America’s rust belt cities, and promised voters the impossible.
The high-paying steel, railroad and car industry jobs that once made Youngstown a hard-living, hard-drinking blue-collar boom town were coming back, he said. “Don’t move. Don’t sell your house,” he crowed to a rapturous crowd in 2017. “We’re going to fill up those factories – or rip ”em down and build brand new ones”.
None of that happened. Indeed, within 18 months, General Motors (GM) announced that it was suspending operations at its one remaining manufacturing plant outside Youngstown, throwing 5,000 jobs into jeopardy in a community with little else to cling to. Trump’s reaction was to say the closure didn’t matter, because the jobs would be replaced “in, like, two minutes”.
That, too, did not happen. People moved away, marriages broke down, depression soared and, locals say, a handful of people took their own lives.
“The Democrats and the Republicans are all a den of crooks. Only one side lies about being crooks, and one doesn’t. If you’re going to be a crook, I’d rather know it than be lied to.”
Where this fucking idiot was wrong was in thinking that Amerikkka has ever or will ever care about the common person. lol
Burn the whole country to the ground
I think at some point this is just overanalyzing things. People vote for the same team they always have. It is like asking a football fan why they root for their team. There often isn't a real answer and what they tell you is ultimately nonsensical.
If you’re going to be a crook, I’d rather know it than be lied to.
Of all dumb reasons for voting for Trump, this one takes the cake.
They aren’t wrong. The dems keep refusing to follow through with their broken promises. People are fed up with the establishment. I wish they had a different choice than Trump, but the DNC refuses to listen to their base and keeps propping up neoliberal center right candidates who only listen to their donors.
This is not the voter’s fault, it’s 100 % Kamala and the DNC.
Almost as if the DNC prefers a candidate like Trump over an actual left of center candidate who will follow through with the economic platform of the dems.
dems keep refusing to follow through with their broken promises
Dems have faced blockades from a GoP-dominated legi branch for something like all but 4 months of the last 40 years. Despite this, they offer a plan that can help and hope for the legi support to make it happen.
GoP has been united in fucking over the 99% and lying about it; Every fucking time since prez Reagan.
Blame the Dems, though.
That's called cutting off your nose to spite your face. There are a lot of things to legitimately criticise about the Democrats. But on every single one of those issues the Republicans are far far worse.
"I might be forcibly sodomized to death in a dark closet, but at least I'll know who's doing it by their voice!"
This is the state of the American electorate. Just a total lack of critical thinking.
It's by design and their goal is to make it worse.
These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.
Except no one's laughing about that in this case.
Putin sure is, as is Winnie the Xi.
Look, I know things are hard, but that's a really narrow take. At the very very least the democrats would not tear down what social services you could still claim. This is like shooting yourself in the foot, and being like "fuck that hurt, maybe it will be better next time?" Instead of "oh shit, better not shoot myself in the foot again".
Sucks. Lives the reality that Trump very specifically targets this place to rebuild and it goes under. Also believes the fake reality that somehow the democrats are worse.
Only one side lies about being crooks, and one doesn’t.
And which is which? I can't tell which the speaker wants me to think. I think that says more about the speaker than it does about me. I can't tell if they're trying to shoot themselves in the foot on purpose.
I assume they mean the Democrats are lying about not being crooks, but given that the article is about Trump breaking promises, that makes him the liar and obvious crook. Which means he's the preferable candidate somehow?
I guess it's just comfortable lies vs. difficult truths. Times change, if you don't change with them you'll be left behind in a ghost of a town.
Yeah, the electorate also punished Carter for being straight with Americans about oil dependence and energy security. And instead of following the path of energy transition, they went with Reagan who promised Americans everything while undermining the middle class.
A lot of voters are basically like children that want to be lied to.
I like this take. I think it makes sense, even though I don't agree with the reasoning of the speaker in the article. There is so much difference between the policies and actions being enacted that to claim an comfortable lie is somehow comparable to a difficult truth is asinine. Both are stupid! Do not vote based on this premise! Have actual policy reasons behind your position. But that's just my opinion.
What truth is the Democratic party telling again? They're crooks all the way.
kagis
It sounds like he's probably referring to the Lordstown Motors auto plant that closed.
Apparently, some of the facility is now doing EV-related work.
It sounds like originally, there were about 4,500 people, and now about half that work at the new factory, and most of the rest were relocated by GM.
Most of the 4,500 workers who lost their jobs last year, and in two earlier waves of layoffs since 2017, have started over in GM plants in unfamiliar towns hundreds of miles away.
https://atlaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Case-Study-Ultium-Cells-Ohio-Final.pdf
Ultium Cells Ohio is a $2.6 billion joint venture between General Motors (GM) and LG Energy Solution (LGES). The companies announced their plans for the facility in December 2019 and, as of June 2024, there are nearly 2,200 hourly and salaried workers on site, surpassing Ultium’s employment expectations when they first announced the facility.
GM relocated 1,300 hourly employees [4]. This was on top of shift cuts in 2016 and 2018 that impacted 1,250 and 1,500 employees respectively [5]
So while this is probably quite bad advice aimed at scoring political points:
"They're all coming back!" Trump told a cheering crowd at a rally in nearby Youngstown in 2017.
"Don't move! Don't sell your house!" he said.
Assuming that Trump's campaign had any idea that this would happen at the time he was speaking -- and apparently there was federal subsidy (albeit from the Biden-era IRA) involved:
Support from the federal government, including a $2.5 billion loan from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office and tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, have been and will be essential to the construction and growth of Ultium Cells facilities in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan.
...that might be uncharacteristically accurate for Trump in that new jobs equal to maybe half the number of jobs that exited had been there (though not necessarily the same workers or skillset, and personally, I wouldn't have stayed around a closed auto plant for five years hoping that someone willing to hire me would show up and ramp up hiring and want to hire me).