26 Comments
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David J. Sharp's avatar

Bitter irony that Trump, who has never physically worked in his life, promises and then betrays farmers whose whole lives are physical labor.

Tobias Meinecke's avatar

Sure - but they desperately wanted to believe these lies, rather than trying to understand who had been good for them and who not. Right wingers all across the globe realized they could use cultural issues and lies to split the socially conscious vote in two and take over some of it.

David J. Sharp's avatar

To be sure … but look who was making those grand, unachievable lies—a man who hasn’t told the truth in over half a century! That’s beyond desperation.

Cindy MacConnie's avatar

And this doesn’t even mention the possibility of reducing tariffs on imported beef to lower costs for consumers here, which I assume would negatively affect US beef producers. I thought trump floated that idea (if I remember correctly) but I don’t know the outcome.

David J. Sharp's avatar

Hmm … didn’t Trump arrange for a special deal to import beef from Argentina? Top quality beef?

Helen Stajninger's avatar

Thank you for this article. Can farmers overcome what they watch on TV every night on Fox to understand who is responsible for what is happening in their communities?

Tobias Meinecke's avatar

They cannot. Just read some of the interviews the NYT had conducted with Trump voters. Sure they are pissed. But the Dems are still the bogeymen for them.

Helen Stajninger's avatar

I know. Hard to believe how brainwashed they are

Alexandra's avatar

Aren't they getting exactly what they voted for?

beckya57's avatar

I doubt many of these people will vote Dem. Political media in rural areas tells them Dems are the handmaidens of Satan 24/7. Sure, they won’t vote GOP in the numbers they did in 2024, but that will most likely result in Dems losing by 3-5 points instead of 10-25 or more. I don’t trust the current polls in these regions at all, because I think the people being polled are expressing their anger and disappointment to pollsters, but will shrink from voting for Dems when they actually have to vote. All that said, if a lot of them stay home (which could happen), then the Dems could win anyway. I think that’s a much more likely path to Dem victories in rural regions than an actual realignment.

Tobias Meinecke's avatar

Indeed indeed. It would take a very long time, and a handful of very idealistic and young enough Dems with loads of down-to-earth charisma to pull that off, to change the brainwashed perception rural America has of the politics of the Democratic Party.

Judy's avatar

I’d like to think folks in the Midwest will vote for change, but I’d bet that a lot of them voted for trump three times.

MBoyer's avatar

I'm in Kansas' most populous county and we are purple shading bluer every year. I am desperately hoping for a depressed turnout in November because that's how we elect a statewide Democrat. We've had a Democratic governor the last 8 years and while she hasn't been able to overcome a few supermajority vetoes, she's been able to moderately keep the legislature in check. I hope what Trump has done can pull her Democratic successor, and possibly Adam Hamilton, across the line.

Jennifer Kass's avatar

I will never understand how people are so tribal that they will vote for the party clearly making their lives worse.

Tobias Meinecke's avatar

They have been systematically been trained to not think for themselves. Its been going on for decades.

David Krupp's avatar

The Democrats must make sure the farmers understand that the Republicans don't care about them. They only care about the 1%. VOTE ALL REPUBLICANS OUT OF OFFICE.

Rxan Smith's avatar

The strangest part of modern politics is how both parties claim to “fight for the working class” while entire industries keep getting hollowed out by corporate consolidation, trade policies, and economic decisions that benefit massive players over local communities. Farmers aren’t just political props for rallies and campaign ads. So who actually has a long-term plan beyond slogans?

bdfnyc's avatar

Not likely. "You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land—the common clay of the new West. You know...morons" They'll just stick out their manure encrusted palms and wait for blue-state tax payers to bail them out. AGAIN.

Jean's avatar

Yet Indiana primary voters went all in on Trump just a few weeks ago.

Noah Berlatsky's avatar

It’s a little unclear whether that was pro trump or anti incumbent…

Dr Dipl Ing's avatar

Most of my father's side of the family are or were farmers. They'll eat dried cow pies and rotten crops while dying of thirst before they admit that voting for Lord Dampnut was a mistake. Maybe some farmers are coming around. But they're far more worried on a regular basis that a family member (me) is gay, or a woman they don't know needs reproductive care, or a black woman was promoted to EVP at a company they know nothing about, than they are about the destruction of the country by their beloved RepubliKKKan party.

Rxan Smith's avatar

One of the biggest political blind spots in America is that rural voters often feel economically abandoned until election season, then suddenly everyone remembers farmers exist. Trade wars, consolidation, land prices, corporate agriculture, supply chains, debt, fuel costs. These issues hit real families long before they become campaign talking points.

Susan Kain's avatar

Farmers, cattlemen and ranchers began to realize their betrayal when Trump announced support for Argentinian beef as part of a $40-billion-dollar package to aid his buddy Argentina President Milei. After listening to a couple of western ranchers, I suggested they imagine whether Trump would support them if they gave him a percentage of the price of each head of cattle sold at market. That's the man they put their trust in.

No matter how agriculture voted (and many do not support Trump), these are human beings and fellow Americans who are struggling to stay above ground while they produce the food we need to live.

Please support the Farmer Angel Network in Wisconsin. Learn about their lives, their issues, their events, and the resources they provide, like wellness help and suicide prevention hotlines.

https://farmerangelnetwork.com

Tobias Meinecke's avatar

A worth cause, for sure. But for me as ethical vegetarian life stock farmers are performing evil deeds. I could never support them regardless of their political orientation or their personal distress.

Janet Carter's avatar

Vote and not for 47’s backed candidates.