Twelve days after the election, Macomb County voters were in the national spotlight again today as NBC’s “Meet The Press” featured interviews with several Donald Trump supporters at a Warren pub.
MTP host Chuck Todd followed the usual script, noting that Macomb is the home of the “Reagan Democrats” and that it is a big, important county in a battleground (formerly blue) state. Those interviewed at Kuhnhenn Brewing were typical working class voters who said they hope for change in the Trump presidency.
“Give us the opportunity to work and take care of our families,” said one man.
Much of the commentary was familiar: Hillary Clinton is a “criminal,” Trump is a billionaire who “can’t be bought,” outsourcing of jobs overseas should be answered with tariffs on products imported into the U.S., and transgender people should not be allowed in the bathroom of their choice.
Since the election, numerous national publications and TV outlets have mentioned Macomb’s dramatic flip – a 68,000-vote change – from President Obama’s win here in 2012 to Trump’s triumph in 2016. The limelight is reminiscent of the huge amount of attention Macomb voters received in the ‘80s and ‘90s from national and international media.
It also signals that Macomb will remain an important place on the electoral map in 2020 as a bellwether county that reflects the views of Middle America.
But the increasingly diverse demographics in the county brought a new wrinkle to the MTP report that went beyond blue-collar stereotypes. One woman, a Clinton voter, said she is pleased with the cultural depth that her child experiences by attending a school where students speak a collective 30 languages.
Todd also interviewed the owner of a diner, Little Joe’s Coney Island in south Warren, who said his immigrant father is a Kosovar Albanian Muslim. The bigoted rhetoric aimed at people who look or speak or worship differently must stop, the restaurateur said.
Then he added this: “He (Trump) has the chance to unite us all.”
