President Donald Trump loves to brag about how he supports American farmers, but his trade war and retaliatory tariffs from China have devastated the agricultural segment of the U.S. economy, and some farmers are now saying they may not vote for Trump in 2020.
Such is the case with a dairy farmer in Pennsylvania who spoke with CNN reporter Vanessa Yurkevich. Yurkevich introduced a segment Friday morning by noting:
“Farmers have had a tough couple of years between bad weather and this trade war that has persisted. Nationally, farm bankruptcies are up 20 percent in just the last year and, here, dairy farms in Pennsylvania are dwindling. We spoke to some farmers who supported the president but say they’re rethinking their vote for 2020.”
Yurkevich asked dairy owner Bill Boyd of Mount Bethel:
“Is the dairy business profitable?”
Boyd replied:
“Just like everything else in agriculture right now, barely profitable.”
It should be noted that Boyd admits he voted for Trump in 2016, which led the CNN correspondent to ask him:
“How big of a hit has that loss of the China market been to you?”
The farmer told her:
“Cost the farmers here $2 a bushel. That’s the profit.”
Boyd then went on to add this about how he feels regarding Trump and the ongoing trade war:
“I think he’s sort of back-stabbing the main people who got him into office in the Midwest, all those Midwest states helped to vote him in and also Pennsylvania. He just left us out.”
And yet, just minutes later, Boyd then admitted he might just have to vote for Trump in 2020:
“Unless they come up with a better alternative, I’m going to vote for him again.”
Wonder how Boyd will feel about that vote if Trump’s tariffs wind up driving him to bankruptcy and the loss of his dairy farm. That’s the other alternative.
Featured Image Via YouTube Screenshot
