Well, for liberals, year one was the darkest era in human history. It was the return of Lord Voldemort, the resurgence of Sauron from the land of Mordor, or the Galactic Empire reigning hellfire from the Death Star, whatever terrible cultural villain suits the narrative that was it. Frankly, it was probably the former because liberals seem to really gravitate towards the Harry Potter universe, but I digress. CNN and MSNBC ventured into Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively to speak with Trump voters.
CNN’s Martin Savidge spoke with five Trump supporters from Youngstown, Ohio in Mahoning County. It was a diverse group, including two people of color, a pastor, student, union worker, a machine shop worker, and a retiree. All five were raised as Democrats in Democratic households, explained Savidge—all flipped for Trump. In fact, Mahoning County saw 7,000 Democrats change their registration to Republican in 2016.
Justis Harrison, a black student, said she was drawn to Trump over his message of giving power to the people. Derrick Anderson, a black pastor, was enthused by President Trump’s call to bring jobs back and make the country better. All five said his first year has been tremendous. All five members said immigration was key for them. Harrison said illegal immigration was a sign of disrespect, akin to spitting in the face of our laws. All five also said they wanted the wall. Rick Green, a union worker, said he saw signs of economic growth coming back into the area in small businesses. Anna Para, a retired mother of four, likes how Trump speaks off the cuff like real Americans. Anderson said he hopes the tax bill will spur economic growth in his community. Geno DiFabio, the machine shop worker, says he’s starting to see why Trump uses Twitter, jokingly saying if he took what other people said about him—he wouldn’t like him either. But he sees what he's done. While she acknowledges the president has fallen short on some thing, she shrugs it off. He’s human. We all fall short on some things.
MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson asked her colleague Chris Jansing about what voters outside of D.C. and the Acela corridor will think about this shutdown fiasco that came to pass earlier today. Who will they blame? Jansing said they will blame Democrats, Congress, but not Trump. She went to Pennsylvania and spoke with voters Leanna McDermott, Donna Kowalczyk, and Lynette Villano. They all said Trump was doing a great job, and that when it comes to draining the swamp and changing the D.C. culture—the man has done the best without any cooperation.
What both groups noticed in Trump year one: the economy is doing better. Home values for the Ohio group are up, while the women of PA told Jansing they see 401ks improving and the stock market blasting into the stratosphere. They see the benefits of Trump’s tax bill. So far, the Trump coalition gives their candidate a 4.0 GPA. And as long as the media attacks him, the stronger that support will become entrenched.
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