Six years ago, as Donald Trump was settling into the White House, my editor told me to take a roadtrip.
Get away from the “Blue State” bubble of New Jersey and New York, he said. Drive out to the farms of Pennsylvania, the coal mines of West Virginia, the rusty steel mills of Ohio. Talk to Trump supporters. Find out what the mainstream media missed.So began my trek into
Six years ago, as Donald Trump was settling into the White House, my editor told me to take a roadtrip.
Get away from the “Blue State” bubble of New Jersey and New York, he said. Drive out to the farms of Pennsylvania, the coal mines of West Virginia, the rusty steel mills of Ohio. Talk to Trump supporters. Find out what the mainstream media missed.So began my trek into what I have come to describe as “Trump Nation.”
That first journey to document Trump’s remarkable rise led to other trips in each of the years of the Trump presidency — all culminating in the historically consequential 2020 election.turns out that America’s media — including me — missed plenty. America was clearly hurting in places like the faded steel town of Mingo Junction, Ohio, where the loss of jobs that were sent overseas turned a once-bustling community of white and Black residents into an empty hulk. Or Keyser, West Virginia, where far too many young people struggled with opioid addiction and a lack of health care. Or Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where the older ethnic white families wondered how they will get along with new Dominican immigrants. Or Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where generations of coal miners lamented the loss of their jobs amid the push for “clean energy.”
I have come to describe as “Trump Nation.”
That first journey to document Trump’s remarkable rise led to other trips in each of the years of the Trump presidency — all culminating in the historically consequential 2020 election.turns out that America’s media — including me — missed plenty. America was clearly hurting in places like the faded steel town of Mingo Junction, Ohio, where the loss of jobs that were sent overseas turned a once-bustling community of white and Black residents into an empty hulk. Or Keyser, West Virginia, where far too many young people struggled with opioid addiction and a lack of health care. Or Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where the older ethnic white families wondered how they will get along with new Dominican immigrants. Or Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where generations of coal miners lamented the loss of their jobs amid the push fo
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