Read on Twitter
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">https://www.reuters.com/article/u...
@ErnestScheyder, @langejason and I dove into two industrial counties hit especially hard by #COVID19. Here& #39;s what we found
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten"> 1/10
@ErnestScheyder, @langejason and I dove into two industrial counties hit especially hard by #COVID19. Here& #39;s what we found
Trumbull County, OH, and Northampton County, PA, both flipped from Obama in & #39;12 to Trump in & #39;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& #39; toll here 3/10
Leo Bongiorno, who sat out the & #39;16 election, might lose his brewery business in Northampton, not b/c of the lockdown but b/c the gov& #39;t hasn& #39;t helped him back on his feet. "I& #39;m scared sh*tless," he told me 4/10
Bongiorno got a $14K relief loan from the Trump Admin to help with payroll. It& #39;s less than he& #39;d get if he filed for unemployment, and doesn& #39;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& #39; severity. Not only is she voting for Biden, she& #39;s pushing her 18-year-old son to do the same 6/10
This isn’t to say there aren& #39;t plenty of Trump loyalists. Our reporting found that many of Trump& #39;s blue-collar, male, ex-Obama voters – a key demographic Biden wants to win back – are sticking with the president. 7/10
It& #39;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& #39;s theirs, and it works. For many, that fear outweighs their problems with Trump. 8/10
"I& #39;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& #39;s to lose, w/ gains among women & seniors. We& #39;ll see in a couple weeks. For now, give our piece a read. It& #39;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">https://www.reuters.com/article/u... 10/10
