How much is rural America still Trump country? — All Over The Map

[0:00] I'm tired of paying you. I'm paying you for a job. Do the job. [0:05] Welcome to All Over the Map. I'm John King. We learn by listening to voters from all across [0:09] the country and all across the political spectrum. That's the reality of living in rural America. [0:15] The fuel cost, that hits rural Americans harder. Affordability is a big deal. Today, [0:23] voters from rural and small-town America, they drive more, so higher prices for gas and for diesel. [0:30] I know that gas prices are higher than where we would want them to be, but I think we have to [0:35] have some patience and give this president the opportunity, give him four full years. [0:41] We want everything there is to win having to do with the farms, and now I think we're more popular [0:46] than ever before. Rural, more often than not, means red, especially in this last decade of Trump, but [0:53] Democrats have hopes for at least a modest rebound in rural America this midterm year. If that happens, [0:58] would dramatically increase their midterm odds and dramatically change the midterm map. [1:04] We're all thinking about our garden this spring, which is something that [1:08] Mountain Democrats do is grow a garden. We have a fantastic group of All Over the Map voters today, [1:18] from small and medium-sized towns, and all from places absolutely critical to the midterm election [1:24] verdict just a few weeks from now. Yes, we'll have some politics, but I want to set this up with a few [1:30] questions just so that anybody watching this can understand why I brought this particular group [1:35] of voters together. All people I've met over the course of the last three years who live in small [1:40] to medium-sized communities. Yes or no, do you ever sit where you live and say, I wish I lived in the big city? [1:48] Oh, no. Sometimes. Sometimes. Okay. All right. We have one sometimes. Okay. [1:58] Yes or no, do you think your area has enough relatively easily accessible healthcare services? [2:05] No. Okay. Mostly no's there. Yes or no, do you feel the cost of living is a little bit higher [2:16] where you live? Okay. That one's pretty unanimous there. Yes or no, do you think the politicians in [2:25] Washington understand that your way of life, your challenges are different from many Americans? [2:35] Again, we got a full house of no's there. And one more, yes or no, do basic things like getting gas, [2:43] getting groceries, going out to vote. Do they take a little bit longer where you live because [2:49] you have to travel longer distances to get things done? To that point, I hope this doesn't happen. [2:58] I pray this doesn't happen. But if any of you had to go today to an emergency room? [3:05] Um, if it's a serious thing, it's 45 minutes to an hour. [3:08] It would take me for something serious. We'd have to go to Tucson, which is about 60 minutes away. [3:14] As we get older, you know, I think about what if I have a heart attack or a stroke and it's going to [3:21] take me a considerably long time to first get an ambulance to my house. And then it might take 45 [3:29] plus to get to the hospital. I'm in nursing. So I've seen, unfortunately, some firsthand stuff. [3:35] We are lucky enough to have people who volunteer and run the ambulance services and stuff like that. [3:41] But we do not have full on paid people 24-7, 365. So our volunteers take over quite a lot. [3:51] One of the conversations for the last 10, 15 years I can remember is if we can just get [3:56] broadband internet into rural America, we can revolutionize schools, we can revolutionize [4:01] healthcare. I think here in Madison County, the answer is yes. For me, access is secondary to [4:09] affordability. I think that's the main issue. Like I can drive, you know, I had my appendix [4:16] out two and a half years ago and, and I drove an hour and a half to Fletcher, but you know, for that [4:22] simple, relatively simple procedure, I mean, the bill was $60,000 and it was like not one bill. It was [4:32] 14 different bills and pages and pages and pages. And I have healthcare through the affordable care act. [4:39] And even then out of pocket, I'm still paying for that surgery today. [4:44] I think Josh hit the nail on the head there. Affordability is a big deal. I mean, that's, [4:50] that's it. I mean, if you, if you have the best hospital locally everywhere, but you can't afford [4:54] it or if it bankrupts you, every time you go in for a broken arm or appendicitis or whatever, [4:59] what good does it do you? [5:00] I served in a hospital board and that was always a challenge. It was like, you get great doctors, [5:05] great nurses. And then by the time you know it, they're gone because so-and-so hospital in [5:10] Corpus or another town offered them way bigger salaries and we can't compete. So our quality [5:16] of service is not as good as other hospitals. Chris, help out on this one in the sense that [5:22] you're a Republican, a conservative, not a fan of Obamacare. From your perspective, [5:27] nodding at all the affordability issues here. If you don't want to expand Obamacare or do it through [5:32] the ACA structure to try to make it better, what would you do? [5:37] I'd fire everybody. You know, I, I think there's so much fraud in, in, in the healthcare system. [5:44] I think we, we have to acknowledge that there's fraud. I mean, $60,000 to have your appendix taken [5:49] out. I mean, if you're, if you go into the emergency room and get a Tylenol, they charge you $40. I mean, [5:55] it's fraud. [5:56] Oh, I think a lot of it unfortunately goes to our insurance industry. [6:00] The average vehicle trip, if you're John King, you live in just outside of Washington, D.C., [6:05] so it's the suburbs of an urban area. My average car trip, the government says is about 10 miles. [6:12] Your average car trip, if you live in rural or small town America is about 17 miles. What does [6:17] that do with rising gas prices to your, your bottom line, your budget? [6:22] You can't live where I live without a car. Like you can't function. I have 26 employees in my [6:30] various businesses and, and they're like one car problem away from like, you know, a serious issue. [6:38] Like you can't get to work. You can't afford to fix your car. That's the reality of living in rural [6:44] America. And, you know, the majority of rural America voted Republican in the last election. And [6:51] those are the people that are actually paying the price for the increased fuel costs, which were [6:56] caused by the conflict in Iran. And so like the people that voted for Trump are the ones that are [7:06] paying for those choices. There's no question that a huge issue in the election that's just a few weeks [7:11] away are affordability, which President Trump inherited from President Biden. It was when President [7:17] Trump put his hand on the Bible, there was an affordability crisis in America. There's still an [7:21] affordability crisis or challenge. And there's no question that the Iran war has exacerbated that [7:26] when it comes to energy prices. I want you to listen to the president. This is back in June. [7:31] And your fertilizer prices are going to go way down, just like they were four months ago. Your [7:37] fertilizer is down, your energy is down, your oil, your gas is all coming way down. And frankly, [7:43] I thought it would go much higher than it did. Chris, you're nodding. Did the president over promise? [7:48] Was he unrealistic about how long the war would take? You know, I would say I was talking to a [7:53] friend last night who's a who's a Republican. He's in the home building business. And he says, [7:59] man, things are I don't think it's working. I just don't think it's I don't think it's working. [8:04] And I said, look where we were two years ago. Look where we were with the border. Look at all the [8:09] things you want to go. Do you want to go back to that world where everything was screwed up? And I know [8:14] that gas prices are higher than where we would want them to be. But I think we have to have some [8:19] patience and give this president the opportunity. Give him four full years. Give him eight years, [8:26] as far as I'm concerned. So did he over promise? Maybe. But I would ask you which politician hasn't [8:34] over promised in the past. Michelle, you live in a county, seven of the 10 people in your county voted [8:42] for Donald Trump. You're a couple hours down the highway from where Chris is. But you're out. [8:47] I've been out with you twice knocking on doors. Do most of those Trump voters agree with Chris that, [8:51] OK, this is tough, but it's better than it was, or at least we're going to get to better than we were? [8:58] There are, of course, some, but there's quite a few that don't. You have to also remember that I am in a [9:07] very high immigrant and refugee county. And so when you take away those people, you're taking away [9:15] people that are working to move our country along. And I'm not saying that we need to change up like [9:24] open borders or anything like that. I don't want this to be misconstrued. But I think that Congress has [9:32] a job to do. And I don't care who gets elected to that job. If you want that job, that's cool. [9:40] But you have to understand you need to be accountable to the people that you represent. [9:45] That's not happening. I have people who are worried about their fertilizer, [9:52] worried about their combines, worried about trying to get into the fields, worry about the cost. [9:58] We have a lot of barriers. I think there's a lot of people that are worried. [10:03] There's a lot of people that I've come across that I've had to tell, you know, yeah, [10:06] we have services to help you. We have food banks here. What do you need? [10:12] To the point Michelle was making, Pastor Steve, about the immigrant community, [10:18] your community is overwhelmingly Hispanic. And when we were there, you were talking about how, [10:23] you know, you are a strong believer in a secure border. You are a strong believer in rules [10:27] and following the law and the systems. But you said there was some concern in the community about [10:31] sometimes the tone or maybe, maybe a tad over aggressive. Where are we now? [10:37] Well, they're in every corner now. It's been a challenge. You know, people are not concerned [10:44] about it. I guess gas has gone up, but that's not the talk here. I think the two biggest things [10:49] right now is food. Like right now, as we're speaking, I have, I just, we just unloaded 35,000 pounds [10:55] of food outside. There's probably about 200 cars right now. And there's just so much people are just [11:03] struggling with that food. And then the other thing is ice. Everybody's scared. So some people [11:08] don't even want to come out of their houses right now. They're walking in fear that they don't want [11:13] to go to work because they're not sure what's going to happen tomorrow. You know, as a pastor hurts a lot [11:19] because I pastored a church where I had a whole bunch of immigrants. So that's been this mixed feelings [11:25] on that situation. I understand the laws of law and, you know, our borders are clean. There's not [11:30] many people coming across anymore like they used to and stuff, but then, but there's ice in every [11:35] corner. People are down in South Texas, everybody walking in fear. So families are struggling right [11:41] now. David, you literally, your shop is steps from the border. And you were talking the times I've been [11:47] down to see you on how in the better days when people were coming back and forth, that that helped [11:51] you. It helped your business. Is that back in any way near normal or is it still a ghost town? [11:58] Well, the dynamic has changed a lot because people used to come to Nogales and shop a lot, [12:02] and now the world's gotten a lot smaller. So a lot of people just bypass Nogales and go [12:07] to bigger towns like Tucson and things like that to shop. The population here is just predominantly [12:13] Hispanic, but Nogales is a very peaceful town. I mean, it's great. And I love the law enforcement here, [12:22] whether it be border patrol, the ICE people down here, the local cops, the, I mean, they're all, [12:28] I always say you can't throw a stone in Nogales without hitting a law enforcement officer of some [12:32] sort. So it makes the town very safe as long as you're not really doing anything you shouldn't [12:37] be doing. And, and it's, it's not, it's never been a problem here like that. It was strange when [12:45] they were letting, when they were letting a lot of people across during the Biden administration, [12:49] that was strange. This gets at the collision in the conversation in the sense that, you know, [12:55] a lot, a lot of people who say it was just out of control in the Biden days. They didn't have a [12:59] system, they didn't have rules, they didn't have laws, people were coming across the border. And now [13:03] it seems to be that they're going too far in the Trump administration. Is that a fair way to put it? [13:09] I think so. I think, I think it's one pretty hard the other way. [13:13] Well, I just, I just feel like, you know, Michelle, she's, she's a humanitarian and she wants to [13:18] take care of people. These people are real people and they're really, you're really there. And so [13:23] it's hard to just not look at them anymore and, and ignore them. But the fact is, is if I'm so mad [13:30] at that Biden administration for allowing all these people to come here and putting us in this [13:36] situation where we have to argue amongst each other potentially about how good we are to other people. [13:42] Well, let me that, let me come back to a yes or no question. We're going to have a midterm election. [13:47] The likelihood is that the Democrats take at least one chamber of, of the Congress. Yes or no. [13:54] Do you think it is possible that after this election, if there is a divided government, meaning [14:02] not all Republican Washington, there can be a, an adult conversation about this immigration issue? [14:09] Cori, why are we past that point? [14:18] I think the temperature of the conversation has gotten so polarized that we're not having reasonable, [14:29] conversations with one another and saying, Hey, this is what we want. It's about having sensible [14:34] policy and sensible resources for all of us to be able to afford food, shelter, and healthcare. And [14:43] we've created this environment where we're all just so mad at each other. [14:47] Shortly after President Trump was elected for his first term, Kaiser Family Foundation took a poll [14:54] and he had a 56% approval rating in rural America. His job performance now is just below 50% in rural [15:01] America. And remember, you know, Trump tends to run it up in rural America. So he's below 50% in a place [15:06] where he got a ton of votes. Another piece of this survey was, are you going to turn out to vote? And among [15:13] rural Democrats, 81% said they felt certain they would vote. Only 74% of Republicans felt they were [15:22] certain to vote. Josh, let me come back to you and start. A friend of yours is running as the Democrat [15:27] for Congress in what is a Republican House district right now. You have the hat on for Jamie Ager. [15:34] Just what is your sense as someone who, yes, has a friend who's the Democrat who's running, but also has a [15:39] lot of friends who are Trump voters and Republicans. Is everyone going to vote? [15:43] Well, I think the key is that if Jamie Ager is a good candidate and so people here still vote the [15:53] person. And I think it's less of a conversation about political party and who is the better [16:01] candidate and who has run a better campaign and who would represent us better. Trump did overpromise. [16:08] He said he was going to fix it on day one, just get me elected and I'll make all the problems go [16:14] away. And they haven't, they've gotten worse. And so, you know, my friends that are Republicans [16:20] that are my neighbors and who I love those people, like he can go on TV and say all that stuff. It's [16:29] not real. It's not real for us. It's not real where we live. Our lives are not better. And my friends who [16:35] are Republicans know it and they feel it. Pastor Steve, let me ask you this question. You're talking [16:39] about the uncertainty in the community about the ICE and everything. Does that impact people's [16:46] willingness to vote? Right now, the big thing, ICE, I hear down there, look, it's the president bringing [16:51] now this ICE situation. So it is a big thing right now. So people are, even the Hispanic community is [16:57] like, it is because of Trump. Look, you voted for Trump last year, but look what ICE is doing because of [17:02] Trump. So it is. So everywhere you go, you see F Trump signs all over the place, all over the [17:07] valley. You see signs because of this situation, because of ICE. So what does it tell you? The [17:14] vice president of the United States is going to what has been Ruby Red Texas in the final weeks of the [17:20] campaign? It is concerning. You know, again, I stand up for my more values too. So when that guy, [17:27] Teller Rico is coming here and telling all these, you know, everybody can promise you the world, [17:32] but your actions speak too louder. When I asked him about values, what are your values? He tried [17:38] to ignore that, especially because he's a minister himself. Well, you disagree with some of his values, [17:42] but it also has to be a hard one when the Republican candidate, Mr. Paxton, has many ethical [17:50] values, challenges of his own. Yeah. And then I said, none of them, like I said, none of us are perfect, [17:55] but I'm not, but I asked what he stands for when he talks about abortion. When Teller Rico came here, [18:00] I was like, what are your thoughts about abortion? And then what are your thoughts about kids playing [18:04] sports and boys mixing that? That's important too, as a parent, it's a concern, you know, [18:10] and even about the border crisis. I understand that. And, you know, it's been happening for years. [18:16] You know, as a leader, we encourage them to stand up for moral issues, what the Bible stands for. [18:21] You know, I tell people the law is the law, the word of God is the truth and nothing changes. [18:25] As we get into the final weeks, Chris Mudd, you have a state that's had a Republican governor for, [18:31] I think, 15 years. You have two Republican senators, your entire congressional delegation [18:35] are Republicans right now. The Democrats think they can win the governor's race, maybe win that [18:40] Senate race, flip at least one, maybe two house seats. Is that realistic? [18:46] Well, I think it's, I think it's realistic. I think it's possible that that could happen. [18:53] I just, I, I'm praying that, that the Republicans can hold out and that people go out and vote and [18:58] they remember, they had, they can remember what, what it was like two years ago, uh, three years [19:03] ago, six years. What was that like? It was brutal. Michelle, when you're knocking on doors in your [19:08] little corner of Iowa, uh, you're trying to flip the house seat there. You're trying to help the [19:12] governor's candidate and the Senate candidate. Uh, when a Trump voter says what Chris just said, [19:18] well, you know, maybe I'm frustrated with now, but I don't want to go back. What do you say? [19:22] Republicans have been in control of Iowa for 10 years. And in that 10 years, [19:28] we've seen our schools go to crap. I'll be completely honest. Um, our school quality has [19:34] gone down significantly. Um, I haven't, everybody says, well, we're going to cut property taxes, [19:41] but the problem is there's their downstream effect. I like my library. I like the firefighters. [19:47] Hey, I'm all about police. That's where my taxes go. So if you cut them, where's the money coming from? [19:55] Cause they haven't answered that. I want people to be able to live, have a voice in their community, [20:02] have disagreements without hurting one another and understand at the end of the day, if I agreed [20:09] and, and say, Chris, who's on the opposite side of the aisle, if we agreed on everything, [20:14] why would we have a meeting? I mean, there'd be no, there'd be no reason. Um, so it's understanding [20:22] that there are diverse people in this country. We have different views. I don't have a problem [20:28] with my neighbor or what they do, but I do want my politicians, whoever's taking on that job, [20:37] you work for me. And it doesn't matter if you get in and you're the opposite side of the voice. [20:43] David, when Arizona went blue for Biden in 2020, everybody said, aha, sunbelt state, [20:48] demographics changing, uh, that's going to go blue. Then it went back to Trump in 2024. [20:53] What is Arizona going to do in these midterms? And what is the message to DC? [20:57] Wow. Um, gosh, I have no idea what Arizona is going to do, but the message to DC is always the same. [21:06] I mean, well, that's, that's not, that doesn't sound like a, that doesn't sound like you're confident. [21:11] No, I'm not. I'm not because everything's been swinging so hard one way or the other, [21:17] you know, between, between Democrat and Republican. And, and, and I really don't believe it's that [21:21] it's, it's, it's, it's, we just have to all be decent to each other and just have the conversations. [21:27] So, um, yeah, I really don't know what's going to happen. I mean, I hope it's different, [21:33] but I hope it doesn't swing too hard the other way. Like it has been, I I'd like to echo what [21:39] people have been saying. We're I'm sick of the partisanship. Um, I'm also, uh, you know, [21:46] like Trump just it, but, but like, it starts from the top, like Trump came to North Carolina and said [21:54] that if we don't elect the Republican Senate candidate, he's going to withhold FEMA funds [22:01] from our state. That's like the worst kind of leadership. It's the most vindictive thing that [22:06] you can do. Every North Carolinian should not be okay with that. Like we, we want people that [22:14] represent every constituent. Let me close on that point. Uh, let's take the names out of it for a [22:19] minute. Why is it, uh, that people from, uh, smaller towns are able to have these conversations [22:27] without calling people enemies of the state or evil? Uh, you know, there's some pretty pointed, [22:33] pretty pointed policy disagreements in this conversation. And yet everybody's being respectful [22:38] of one another. What can the politicians learn from you? Just being kind and being empathetic and [22:44] seeing the goodness in the people around you. I think one of the biggest things that all of us [22:49] just need to put a pride aside and think about, it's about the people, you know, it's about people. [22:56] It's not about us. I think we need to, to, to send a message where we need to double down [23:02] on the things that'll help. I think we need to double down on education. I think education is how [23:07] you have intelligent conversations for that. I think they need to say, do the same thing with [23:11] the immigration process. I think they need to double down and, and throw more money and more people and [23:16] more resources and figure out better ways of getting the people into the country who have been vetted, [23:24] who do good, do good things. I want them to do their job. I am sick of the party politics and [23:31] going back and forth and who caused what I don't care. I don't care who caused what I don't care. [23:37] I want it fixed. You have an opportunity to do it. And if you put aside all your crap [23:42] and all the Mickey mouse BS and sit down and actually have a conversation with one another of [23:48] how can we make these rules? I think you can do it, but do it because otherwise I'm tired of [23:58] paying you. I'm paying you for a job. Do the job. [24:03] Well, first off, as a Republican, I think I could hang out with Josh and Michelle. [24:08] We would be friends, Chris. Yeah, we would be. And I think- [24:13] Totally have a beer and be great. [24:15] Yeah. And I, and I, I, but I do think- [24:18] I'm going to have Corey take you while you want to rafting. [24:20] Everything starts with a goal. [24:21] See if she throws you off the raft. [24:22] Yeah. We'll all hang out. [24:24] I think you got to have goals. You know, what, what do we want? And I, and I, I think David, [24:30] you might've said it earlier. We all want this. We all want the same things. [24:34] Yeah. [24:34] Um, but we, but we fight about how to, how we're going to get there. And, and, uh, I, I think the [24:42] media has played a giant role in, in pitting us against each other. And I think that's really [24:50] unfortunate because I, I really, I want people to do well. [24:53] We have so much more in common, but we've been led to believe that there's only two ways [24:59] and the other way is the enemy of progress. And I think until we have a different version [25:07] of our system, whether it's a popular vote, whether it's a multi-party system, I don't know. [25:13] I'm not a political scientist, but I know that this is not working really well. And that disturbs me. [25:20] I'm going to end this one right here election in just a few weeks. I'm confident everybody [25:24] on this screen is going to vote because I know how much you care about it. I hope you tell your [25:29] friends and family, no matter how cynical they might be, get out and vote no matter who you're [25:31] voting for it. But, uh, let me end by saying, Hey, I hope to see you all as soon as possible [25:35] in your communities. That's the favorite part of my job. And I'm really grateful for your time today. [25:39] Thank you.