Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
In GM Country, Workers Aren't Abandoning Trump
By admin
Published 7 years ago on
December 1, 2018

Share

LORDSTOWN, Ohio — 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?

“Do I feel like there’s still time to put down Twitter and stop doing what he’s doing and focus on us? Yeah.”Tommy Wolikow, former Lordstown GM worker
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.

Cut up to 14,000 Workers in North America

The 36-year-old father of three was in the crowd at a 2017 rally in Youngstown when Trump boasted he would bring jobs back.
“Don’t sell your house,” the president said — and Wolikow took him at his word. But things only got worse. He’s since started traveling to Trump rallies to draw attention to the troubles in Lordstown and elsewhere where he says promises haven’t been kept. But he says he will support Trump again if he sees action, not just words.
“If you help get jobs back here in our community … you’ll have my vote,” he said.
GM said Monday it would cut up to 14,000 workers in North America and marked five plants for possible closure, including the Lordstown plant, which previous rounds of layoffs already had left operating with just one shift. Once-full parking lots around the plant now sit largely empty. Assembly plants in Detroit and Ontario and transmission plants near Baltimore and in Warren, Michigan, also could be shuttered.
Michigan, like Ohio, was among the states with large numbers of once-reliably Democratic union workers who backed Trump two years ago. But Michigan seemed to be swinging back to the left in the November midterm election, when Democrats won the governor’s office and other statewide races and picked up two congressional seats.

In this March 14, 2016 photo, a supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a sign during a plane-side rally at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, 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/Gene J. Puskar)

Holding Firm for GOP

Ohio seemed to be holding firm for the GOP. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown — a possible 2020 presidential candidate — won re-election, but Republicans won the governor’s race and four other statewide offices for the third straight time, an outcome Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper attributed partly to Ohioans’ loyalty to the president. “The Trump factor,” he said.

“If anything, support for the president has gotten stronger. People have an appreciation for what the president has done. I think he’ll do even better in 2020.” — County GOP Chairman Mark Munroe
In northeast Ohio, where Democrats for decades took 60 percent or more of the vote, the GOP picked up steam. While statewide Democratic candidates won in Mahoning County, where Youngstown is located, it was by much smaller margins than four years ago. County GOP Chairman Mark Munroe credits Trump and a “newfound sense of optimism.”
“If anything, support for the president has gotten stronger,” he said. “People have an appreciation for what the president has done. I think he’ll do even better in 2020.”
The Trump presidency has coincided with factory job gains, although not in some of the traditional manufacturing centers that he promised to revive. The number of people working in factories has not passed the totals of a decade ago, right before the 2008 financial crisis forced a crushing wave of layoffs.
Ohio has shed auto-making jobs on Trump’s watch, while Michigan, California and Kentucky have seen growth.
Trump does appear to be getting credit for the economy, even from those who aren’t personally benefiting.

Approving Trump’s Handling of Economy

With low unemployment and a largely strong stock market until relatively recently, nearly two-thirds of midterm voters nationwide considered the economy to be good, according to VoteCast, the Associated Press’ survey of the electorate. And while just 44 percent of voters said they approved of his job performance overall, 55 percent gave him high marks on the economy.

“If we were giving out grades, I’d give (Trump) a B right now. If Lordstown gets another product, I’ll give him an A.” — Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill
In rural and small-town America, the heart of Trump’s support, a solid majority — 58 percent — of voters making less than $50,000 said they approve of his handling of the economy. That’s only a slightly smaller share than rural voters overall.
In Ohio, backing for Trump and his handling of the economy was strong. Even as voters nearly split evenly on their opinion of Trump overall, 57 percent gave him good marks on the economy.
“I don’t think he can perform miracles,” said Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill, a Trump supporter who, like others in this community near Youngstown, is hopeful GM will assign the plant another product to replace the Chevy Cruze, a model workers here produce but the company is abandoning. He blames market forces, not Trump or GM, and says the community is otherwise doing well.
“If we were giving out grades, I’d give (Trump) a B right now,” Hill said. “If Lordstown gets another product, I’ll give him an A.”

Trump Wants to Cut Federal Subsidies for GM

Trump criticized GM and the company’s chief executive officer, Mary Barra, after the shutdown announcement, noting on Twitter that the company isn’t closing plants in China or Mexico.
“The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get!” he wrote. The president also said this week he wants to cut federal subsidies for the company, and signaled he may place tariffs on car imports.
The White House has not clarified those comments, and there are questions about whether the president has the authority to act without congressional approval.
Union leaders and Democratic officials say Trump should have done more, and sooner. After the latest round of layoffs in July, Union President Dave Green sent a letter to Trump asking him to get involved and noting a large number of union members voted for him. Trump’s silence on the situation, Green wrote, was “disturbing.”
Trump this week pinned blame on others, including Brown, telling The Wall Street Journal the senator “didn’t get the point across” to GM. Brown said the president should stop “pointing fingers” and called on him to sit down and discuss ways to save the plant.

Line of Attack for a Democratic Candidate

News like the GM announcement could sway opinion and create a line of attack for a Democratic candidate. And there are other indications of U.S. economic trouble: Sales of new U.S. homes dropped in October by almost 9 percent, and the number of unsold, newly built homes on the market reached its highest level since 2009.

“But worst-case scenario — let’s say the plant closes for good — I don’t know what their opinion is going to be at that point.” — Tim O’Hara, vice president of United Auto Workers 1112
Tim O’Hara, vice president of United Auto Workers 1112, says whether support for Trump continues is a matter of “wait and see, like everything else.” He said he believes a Democrat still has a chance to win in Ohio if that candidate talks about issues people care about, like jobs and trade.
O’Hara, who backed Hillary Clinton in 2016, retired from the plant earlier this year after 41 years, though his wife still works there. He said a lot of people in the area “seemed to buy in to Trump” two years ago, and he agreed most are still with the president.
“But worst-case scenario — let’s say the plant closes for good — I don’t know what their opinion is going to be at that point,” he said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

World Leaders React to US Attack on Iran

DON'T MISS

Congress Members Split Over US Attack on Iran

DON'T MISS

Investors Brace for Oil Price Spike, Rush to Havens After US Bombs Iran Nuclear Sites

DON'T MISS

Investors React to US Attack on Iran Nuclear Sites

DON'T MISS

Tulare County’s Colvin Fire Ignites With 80 Personnel on Scene

DON'T MISS

US B-2 Bombers Involved in Iran Strikes, U.S. Official Says

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Iran’s Key Nuclear Sites ‘Obliterated’ by Airstrikes

DON'T MISS

LA Dodgers Pledge $1 Million to Support Families Impacted by ICE Raids

DON'T MISS

Pakistan to Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

DON'T MISS

Vance, in Los Angeles, Says Troops Need to Stay, Blasts Newsom Over Immigration

UP NEXT

Voice of America Parent Terminates Over 600 More Staff in Likely Death Knell

UP NEXT

US Court Lets Trump Keep Control of California National Guard for Now

UP NEXT

Massive Security Breach: 16 Billion Passwords Leaked From Apple, Google, Facebook Accounts

UP NEXT

Hunger Strike Begins as California Prisons Hand Down Biggest Restrictions Since COVID

UP NEXT

Musk Shares Negative Drug Test Results, Challenges Media Outlets

UP NEXT

Hurricane Erick Threatens Mexico’s Pacific Coast, Rapid Strengthening Expected

UP NEXT

More US Officials Face Threats as Fears Grow Over Political Violence

UP NEXT

Protester Killed at Utah ‘No Kings’ Rally Was Fashion Designer From ‘Project Runway’

UP NEXT

‘We Will Kill You Dead’: Florida Sheriff’s Stark Warning to Demonstrators

UP NEXT

Here’s What to Expect at the Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade on Trump’s Birthday

Israel Signals Iran Campaign Can End Soon but Much Hinges on Tehran

17 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Melissa Helen Alexander

38 minutes ago

Explosions Heard Over Qatar Capital Doha After Iran Threat to Retaliate for US Strikes

56 minutes ago

How Many Alleged Drunk Drivers Did Fresno Police Nab Over the Weekend?

57 minutes ago

Teen Accused as Getaway Driver in Caleb Quick Murder Appears in Court. Defense Waives Key Hearing

1 hour ago

Thunder Cap Incredible Season by Beating Pacers for NBA Title

2 hours ago

US Power Prices Soar as Brutal Heat Wave Stresses Power Grids

3 hours ago

Israeli Strikes on Iran May Have Violated International Law, UN Mission Says

3 hours ago

How the Attacks on Iran Are Part of a Much Bigger Global Struggle

3 hours ago

UK to Ban Campaign Group Palestine Action Under Anti-Terrorism Laws

3 hours ago

Trump Slams Medvedev for Claiming Nations May Supply Iran With Nuclear Warheads

President Donald Trump on Monday blasted former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev over a claim that multiple nations are “ready to directly ...

3 minutes ago

Russia's Security Council's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Council for Science and Education at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region's city of Dubna, Russia June 13, 2024. (Reuters File)
3 minutes ago

Trump Slams Medvedev for Claiming Nations May Supply Iran With Nuclear Warheads

Traces are seen in the sky after Iran's armed forces say they targeted The Al-Udeid base in a missile attack, as seen from Doha, Qatar, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
6 minutes ago

Iran Says It Fires Missiles at US Airbase in Qatar, Explosions Heard Over Doha

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, as Head of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Directorate Igor Kostyukov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov sit nearby, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via REUTERS
14 minutes ago

Putin Says US Strikes on Iran Are Pushing World to ‘Very Dangerous Line’

Rescuers and security personnel work at the impacted site after a missile attack from Iran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict in Tel Aviv, Israel June 22, 2025. (Reuters/Tomer Appelbaum)
17 minutes ago

Israel Signals Iran Campaign Can End Soon but Much Hinges on Tehran

Melissa Helen Alexander is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for June 23, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
38 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Melissa Helen Alexander

A boy rides a scooter near a damaged car at an impact site following Iran's strike on Israel, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Haifa, Israel, June 22, 2025. (Reuters/Florion Goga)
56 minutes ago

Explosions Heard Over Qatar Capital Doha After Iran Threat to Retaliate for US Strikes

57 minutes ago

How Many Alleged Drunk Drivers Did Fresno Police Nab Over the Weekend?

1 hour ago

Teen Accused as Getaway Driver in Caleb Quick Murder Appears in Court. Defense Waives Key Hearing

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend