President Donald Trump has more support in rural America than any U.S. politician in decades, and farmers remain overwhelmingly loyal to him. Yet with Trump’s tariffs unleashing a trade war and China striking back with retaliatory tariffs, farmers and their representatives have declared again and again and again that this will be absolutely brutal for them. As one put it, if farmers don’t get a government bailout, they will face “a disaster.” Another says farmers are “shocked.” Meanwhile, nearly a third of Republicans fear Trump’s tariffs will have a negative impact, and fewer than half say Trump’s policies are making them better off. We talked to Tom Schaller, the co-author of the book White Rural Rage, who explains why farmers are set to get screwed so badly, what all this says about the nature of rural support for Trump, and how Democrats should capitalize. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.
PODCAST
“Disaster”: Trump Voters Suddenly Realize How Badly He Screwed Them
As Trump’s core voters prepare to get slammed by his trade wars, the author of a book about MAGA country explains what all this says about the dark nature of his rural support—and how Democrats can capitalize.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
