Republican Counties That Voted for Trump Are Seeing Slower Job Growth

A new Associated Press analysis reveals that Democratic counties are seeing significantly more job growth than Republican counties who voted for President Trump in 2016. Despite Trump’s claims that the economy is booming because he is putting “America first,” his tariffs are harming farmers and the counties that supported him aren’t seeing significant job growth.

On Monday, Trump tweeted to brag, once again, that the “economy has never been better.” He even pointed out that jobs are at the “best point in history.”

Great financial numbers being announced on an almost daily basis. Economy has never been better, jobs at best point in history. Fixing our terrible Trade Deals is a priority-and going very well. Immigration on Merit Based System to take care of the companies coming back to U.S.A.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2018

However, most of Trump’s claims are false. Let’s start with his claim that jobs are at the “best point in history.” The AP’s analysis revealed that 58.5 percent of the job gains were in counties that voted for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump in 2016. Counties that voted for Trump with the hope of more jobs are seeing significantly slower job growth—in fact, Trump counties are actually losing jobs. 35.4 percent of Trump counties lost jobs in the past year in comparison to only 19.2 of Clinton counties.

Trump has claimed at rallies that the country is projected to add 2.6 million jobs this year and all of them will go to the “forgotten people,” otherwise known as the blue collar workers in rural towns. Yet most of the job growth under the Trump administration has taken place in counties with liberal cities such as Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seattle.

Trump also has a habit of pointing to his tariffs as a driving force behind the economy’s growth. A series of tweets on Saturday and Sunday proved that Trump is continuing to tout his tariff decisions, despite the fact that they have negatively impacted U.S. farmers.

Tariffs are working far better than anyone ever anticipated. China market has dropped 27% in last 4months, and they are talking to us. Our market is stronger than ever, and will go up dramatically when these horrible Trade Deals are successfully renegotiated. America First…….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018

….Tariffs have had a tremendous positive impact on our Steel Industry. Plants are opening all over the U.S., Steelworkers are working again, and big dollars are flowing into our Treasury. Other countries use Tariffs against, but when we use them, foolish people scream!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018

….Tariffs will make our country much richer than it is today. Only fools would disagree. We are using them to negotiate fair trade deals and, if countries are still unwilling to negotiate, they will pay us vast sums of money in the form of Tariffs. We win either way……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018

….China, which is for the first time doing poorly against us, is spending a fortune on ads and P.R. trying to convince and scare our politicians to fight me on Tariffs- because they are really hurting their economy. Likewise other countries. We are Winning, but must be strong!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018

However, Trump’s tariffs are not working “better than anyone anticipated.” Instead, the tariffs have harmed U.S. farmers so much that Trump was forced to supply them with a $12 billion bailout. Following the tariffs against multiple U.S. allies, as well as a burgeoning trade war with China, U.S. farmers now face retaliatory tariffs overseas. For example, soybeans are the U.S.’s second-largest financially important crop and Forbes predicts that Trump’s trade war could cause permanent damage to soybean farmers.

The tariffs aren’t just hurting farmers, either: New reports reveal that U.S. consumers are starting to see higher prices due to Trump’s “America first” plan. Coca-Cola has reported having to raise prices, tariffs on softwood lumber from Canada have increased the price of building a house by $7,000, washing machine prices have jumped, the machinery maker Caterpillar will be forced to raise its prices, and Winnebago RV’s are now more expensive. Finally, the aluminum and steel tariffs that started this entire fiasco will cost the U.S. beer industry $348 million this year.

Finally, Trump claims his tariffs will decrease the country’s $21 trillion debt but ultimately, it will only balance out the $1.6 trillion he will add to the national debt. Despite their support for Trump and belief in his promises, the “forgotten people” who are working-class, unemployed Americans in rural areas won’t be seeing job growth in their counties anytime soon.