Elections in the United States: Clarín in Welch, the most Trumpist town in the world

In the middle of the Appalachians, this West Virginia town voted for Trump with its eyes closed, in 2016. Four years later, we returned to find out what now?

Paula lugones

10/13/2020 12:14

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 10/13/2020 4:02 PM

It is not easy to reach this corner lost between the Appalachian peaks, in the heart of

About 6 hours from Washington, in the center-east of the United States, there is no alternative but to come by car because here there are no passenger trains, buses or public transport that connects to this place of

.

When the highway is left behind, the narrow road begins to wind mountains with trees somewhat reddish in autumn until it ends at

entire country: the coal enclave where Donald Trump swept in 2016 with almost 75% of the votes.

So far we come to ask

of the president who seeks his re-election on November 3.

If they are better or worse than 4 years ago, if they reproach them, if they renew their confidence.

Clarín

visited Welch 4 years ago and it was

.

Long gone were those splendorous times of coal, when the city that lived on the mineral had 100,000 inhabitants and because of its strength it was called the New York of the Appalachians.

In 2016 there was no soul, the businesses on its main street were closed with broken windows, a dilapidated service station, people without work, many wandering about with a lost gaze from drugs.

Its enormous source of income,

, were practically closed not only due to energy reconversion but also due to the strong environmental regulations imposed by the Barack Obama administration.

Then the candidate Trump arrived and promised the inhabitants that he would eliminate polluting and bureaucratic limitations, reopen the mines and thus return to the golden years of coal.

With those slogans, the tycoon

in this corner of the United States that used to vote Democratic in prosperous years.

Four years later, this correspondent returned to Welch to record whether they renewed confidence in the president or would there be any sympathy for Democratic opponent Joe Biden, who is

in national polls.

To see if the aid promised to this sector had really arrived or if they saw some dark point for the president.

Postcards from Welch, a lost corner among the Appalachian peaks in the heart of West Virginia.

About 6 hours from Washington.

The city did not change dramatically, but you see a

than in 2016: there are trucks loaded with coal going back and forth down the main street, some businesses remain closed, but there is also a new multi-story building with 16 apartments, offices and a huge store, which cost 6 million dollars, a luxury in this place of unpainted bricks and empty windows.

In addition, there are small off-road rental vehicles, driven by

the nature of the place, full of forests and rivers.

And some places with new cabins for camping.

Cecil Patterson

is one of those small town dwellers that everyone greets when walking down the street.

He is a lifelong miner, like his father and grandfather.

Like every worker in Deep America, he wears jeans and boots and only wears a chinstrap when he notices that his interlocutor is wearing it.

58 years old, two sons, first he worked with pick and shovel in the bowels of the mine, like most of the men in this place, and then he drove trucks that transported coal.

Now a Welch councilor, he works for a Chinese mining company that came to the city three years ago and plans to invest $ 30 million in Mc Dowell County, where Welch is located.

“There was

in the coal industry when Trump was elected.

We have been able to get companies to sign long-term contracts since he became president.

Until the pandemic, they hired people anywhere.

I think the whole county is better after these four years.

The federal government has been helping us with some sewer and infrastructure projects, ”Cecil says as he walks the streets.

Welch's only gas station was bought by

and now looks fresh, the miner proudly shows.

Welch in the splendorous times of coal, when the city that lived on the mineral and because of its strength was called the New York of the Appalachians.PHOTO: XXX

The year after taking office, Trump announced a new plan to keep hundreds of coal plants running that President Barack Obama wanted to shut down as soon as possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He also decentralized environmental regulations for each state to set,

West Virginia and Kentucky

who quickly loosened them for the sake of reviving the main local industry.

Trump also abandoned the Paris Agreement and is no longer committed globally to reducing polluting emissions, thus benefiting the coal industry that was being replaced by cleaner energy.

“Before Trump there was really no work, there was almost no activity for our industry.

Now everything is much better ”, says Cecil, highlighting that about 300 jobs were created.

"Every time the coal industry grows,

as greengrocers, food outlets

also arise

and people begin to repair their houses, go on vacation, send their children to university and change their cars," he adds.

It shows in the numbers: while it is still a town where money is scarce, the annual per capita income here was $ 12,955 in 2016 and is now $ 14,489.

Welch today.

Better than four years ago when it was a ghost town.

Now there are more shops and the tourists have returned.

-Do you think this city is going to vote for Trump again?

-It will be much bigger this time than it was last time.

-More than 74% of 2016?

-Yes ma'am.

-Why?

-A lot of us here like Trump.

Many identify with him, even though he is a millionaire and we are working class.

I think it speaks in a way that we can understand, it speaks to us.

Crystal Green agrees with Cecil.

She is a sales clerk at the only store that sells clothing and household items in Welch.

The garments are

, like the rest of the merchandise.

Boys' shoes are sold for $ 2, work shirts for $ 4.

The president, like a hero.

“Before Trump there really was no work.

Now everything is much better ", they thank him in Welch.

"Things are much better than four years ago," he says.

“Until the pandemic, coal was sold and everything was going much better.

Now with the Covid everything works slowly ”, he adds.

As she attends to some women who are taking some clothes, Crystal says she is going to vote for Trump again.

“

will also vote for him.

I know that sometimes he says things out of place, but we all do it at some point ", he adds, and assures that he will renew confidence in the president because he is" a businessman and our country has to be managed like a company. "

An elderly man is sitting in his appliance repair business and his son sweeps the sidewalk full of coal smut.

They do not want to speak or give their name, but only say

, when they hastily dismiss this envoy.

Other times.

In the days of the coal boom, Welch had 100,000 residents.

Today it has just 2,000.

In one of the corners a man appears dressed in a shirt and cloth pants.

He's one of the

living in Welch and he doesn't want to be identified: "I'm the only one in this place who's

" he whispers almost secretly.

He says that even though he has more work,

and a bully" and that he "seeks to become a dictator."

In this place, Trump raises almost no criticism.

“I would like him to tweet less and be less of a mouth,” outlines Cecil.

"But I really think he's tried to move things forward and the Democrats are against everything."

Support for the president

in this Trumpist stronghold.

The bases seem to be firm, the doubts seem to be further away from here, among the more independent moderate sectors, in the suburbs of the big cities.

Cecil makes the argument that resonates the most in deep, hard-working, white and conservative America: “This country depends on business, and in big cities this may not be important, but in the interior jobs are needed, jobs are requested.

We need jobs to restore people's pride, so they can buy a car,

.

Here in this county when people lose their jobs they lose their spirit.

That is why we are going to bet on Trump again ”.

Clarín's trip through the interior of the United States

First part

From New York to Pennsylvania The origins of each of the candidates Read the note

Welch, Special Envoy

Look also

John Bolton: "In a second term, Donald Trump would be very difficult to contain"