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McDowell County, West Virginia, can be a brutal place.
In February, massive floods killed three people including a two-year-old boy who was found 10 miles downriver from the truck he was travelling in with his grandparents and sisters.
The remains of a bridge are still violently twisted across the river by the road into Welch, the county seat. Some places became so inaccessible that – in the richest country in the world – emergency services had to use pack mules to deliver supplies.
Sandi and Tony Blankenship’s kitchen table is stacked high with paperwork for families Sandi is helping to get flood recovery money to repair their wrecked homes.
Sandi, 53, grew up as a coal miner’s daughter in McDowell, before becoming a nurse, mother, foster mother, Christian missionary and Donald Trump voter.
The 47th US president’s surprisingly comfortable victory in last year’s election came in part from his ability to reach people like her. While the Republicans have traditionally been the party of the wealthy, Trump managed to win over a large proportion of working-class voters by channelling their rage against globalisation and a system they felt had left them behind.
“They voted for Trump to get even with those who broke their promises,” says Frank Luntz, a veteran US political analyst.
Telegraph analysis shows McDowell County is the poorest Republican county in America that has a population of more than 10,000 people. Household income here averages $29,980 (£22,600) a year. Of the 3,142 US counties, it is one of only eight where household income is less than $30,000.
After decades of voting staunchly Democrat, McDowell County is now part of Trumpland. The president won 79.4pc of the vote here in 2024.
“We’ve had enough politicians to destroy this country and we needed a businessman,” says Sandi. “And his business model is wonderful, impeccable. It cannot be argued with.”
To Sandi, Trump is bringing winds of change to Washington that will bring jobs back to America and lift up places like McDowell County.
But far away on Wall Street, economists and investors fear the US president’s wildly aggressive and unpredictable trade war is about to drive up inflation and tip America into recession.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/maga-country-trump-supporters-want-050000541.html
In February, massive floods killed three people including a two-year-old boy who was found 10 miles downriver from the truck he was travelling in with his grandparents and sisters.
The remains of a bridge are still violently twisted across the river by the road into Welch, the county seat. Some places became so inaccessible that – in the richest country in the world – emergency services had to use pack mules to deliver supplies.
Sandi and Tony Blankenship’s kitchen table is stacked high with paperwork for families Sandi is helping to get flood recovery money to repair their wrecked homes.
Sandi, 53, grew up as a coal miner’s daughter in McDowell, before becoming a nurse, mother, foster mother, Christian missionary and Donald Trump voter.
The 47th US president’s surprisingly comfortable victory in last year’s election came in part from his ability to reach people like her. While the Republicans have traditionally been the party of the wealthy, Trump managed to win over a large proportion of working-class voters by channelling their rage against globalisation and a system they felt had left them behind.
“They voted for Trump to get even with those who broke their promises,” says Frank Luntz, a veteran US political analyst.
Telegraph analysis shows McDowell County is the poorest Republican county in America that has a population of more than 10,000 people. Household income here averages $29,980 (£22,600) a year. Of the 3,142 US counties, it is one of only eight where household income is less than $30,000.
After decades of voting staunchly Democrat, McDowell County is now part of Trumpland. The president won 79.4pc of the vote here in 2024.
“We’ve had enough politicians to destroy this country and we needed a businessman,” says Sandi. “And his business model is wonderful, impeccable. It cannot be argued with.”
To Sandi, Trump is bringing winds of change to Washington that will bring jobs back to America and lift up places like McDowell County.
But far away on Wall Street, economists and investors fear the US president’s wildly aggressive and unpredictable trade war is about to drive up inflation and tip America into recession.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/maga-country-trump-supporters-want-050000541.html
