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NEW: Donald Trump won the Rust Belt in 2016 by promising economic rebirth. He might lose it in 2020 over the coronavirus. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-coronavirus-insight/in-2016-trump-won-these-rust-belt-counties-on-the-economy-in-2020-he-might-lose-them-over-coronavirus-idUSKBN27416C
@ErnestScheyder, @langejason and I dove into two industrial counties hit especially hard by #COVID19. Here's what we found
1/10
@ErnestScheyder, @langejason and I dove into two industrial counties hit especially hard by #COVID19. Here's what we found
1/10
Trumbull County, OH, and Northampton County, PA, both flipped from Obama in '12 to Trump in '16. He promised to revitalize the industrial heartland. But these counties have seen unemployment rates double, and have lost more per-capita lives to COVID than the U.S. average 2/10
Polling shows Biden tied or ahead in these regions, with most voters listing the pandemic as the key issue. Interviews with more than 50 voters give a glimpse into the virus' toll here 3/10
Leo Bongiorno, who sat out the '16 election, might lose his brewery business in Northampton, not b/c of the lockdown but b/c the gov't hasn't helped him back on his feet. "I'm scared sh*tless," he told me 4/10
Bongiorno got a $14K relief loan from the Trump Admin to help with payroll. It's less than he'd get if he filed for unemployment, and doesn't help the brewery pay its $7,500-per-month in debt 5/10
Tanya Wojciak, in Trumbull, is a lifelong Republican who voted for Trump in 2016. But she lost a friend to #COVID19, and is angry that @realdonaldtrump has downplayed the virus' severity. Not only is she voting for Biden, she's pushing her 18-year-old son to do the same 6/10
This isn’t to say there aren't plenty of Trump loyalists. Our reporting found that many of Trump's blue-collar, male, ex-Obama voters – a key demographic Biden wants to win back – are sticking with the president. 7/10
It's not that they love Trump. But many have lost a lot already & are scared of losing more. Trump paints @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris as socialists coming to take what's theirs, and it works. For many, that fear outweighs their problems with Trump. 8/10
"I'd vote for Biden, if not for Kamala” is a phrase I’ve heard numerous times. It echoes a narrative Trump himself has fueled - that Biden is mentally unfit, and Harris-The-Socialist would end up running the country. 9/10
Still, though, our reporting showed #COVID19 has made this race Biden's to lose, w/ gains among women & seniors. We'll see in a couple weeks. For now, give our piece a read. It's got brilliant photos from @brian_photog & Shannon Stapleton. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-coronavirus-insight/in-2016-trump-won-these-rust-belt-counties-on-the-economy-in-2020-he-might-lose-them-over-coronavirus-idUSKBN27416C 10/10
