In this Nov. 28, 2018 photo, final inspector Mary Skinner inspects the rear end of a General Motors Chevrolet Cruze at Jamestown Industries, in Youngstown, Ohio. It was working-class voters who bucked the area’s history as a Democratic stronghold and backed Donald Trump in 2016, helping him win the White House with promises to put American workers first and bring back disappearing manufacturing and steel jobs. Whether they stick with him after this week’s GM news and other signs that the economy could be cooling will determine Trump’s political future. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
LORDSTOWN, Ohio (AP) – Since General Motors announced its decision this week to shut down its hulking Lordstown plant – the anchor of this northeast Ohio town – workers on the line have had nothing but questions. Will they have jobs come spring? Should they put in for transfers and move their families to Texas or Tennessee? How much should they spend on Christmas?
One they haven’t yet answered: Who is to blame?
It was working-class voters like these who bucked the area’s history as a Democratic stronghold and backed Donald Trump in 2016, helping him win the White House with promises to put American workers first and bring back disappearing manufacturing jobs. Whether they stick with him after the GM news and other signs that the economy may be cooling could determine Trump’s political future.
For now, many people here are still behind the man who won them over with his sky-high promises. But they took those pledges seriously, and still expect him to fulfill them.
“Do I feel like there’s still time to put down Twitter and stop doing what he’s doing and focus on us? Yeah,” said Tommy Wolikow, who followed in his father’s footsteps to work at GM Lordstown before he was laid off on the same day as Trump’s inauguration.