In December 2015, I drove down to my father's home in rural Missouri to spend a few weeks with him prior to Christmas.
During that drive the road was littered with Trump signs. Many have remained there for over 6 years.
Yesterday, I didn't see even one.
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During that drive the road was littered with Trump signs. Many have remained there for over 6 years.
Yesterday, I didn't see even one.
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Back in 2015, I was still working in New York. I had graduated law school in May, studied for the bar exam in rural MO, and began as a first year associate in NYC in September.
A little over two months later, I returned home to help with butchering + canning season.
A little over two months later, I returned home to help with butchering + canning season.
Except it was too warm to butcher. We waited until January that year. So mostly we were canning. But because we needed more mason jars, I spent a lot of time on the highway driving to the G&W.
That route is very rural.
Lots of beautiful farm land.
Lots of kind people.
That route is very rural.
Lots of beautiful farm land.
Lots of kind people.
And there were *a lot* of Trump signs.
I can't say that prior to December 2015 I remember ever seeing a political sign on this drive. Maybe a Nixon sign here or there. One guy always had an Ike sign. But otherwise, folks just weren't outwardly politically active.
I can't say that prior to December 2015 I remember ever seeing a political sign on this drive. Maybe a Nixon sign here or there. One guy always had an Ike sign. But otherwise, folks just weren't outwardly politically active.
That's what was so shocking about it. There were Trump signs--and sometimes there were multiple signs on the same property. And this was almost a year before the general election.
When I returned to NYC in January, I told everyone in my office what I had seen and that Trump would win the primary.
They laughed at me. Said everyone knew he was involved with the Russian mob. Everyone knew he wasn't really into Real Estate--he was into marketing.
They laughed at me. Said everyone knew he was involved with the Russian mob. Everyone knew he wasn't really into Real Estate--he was into marketing.
And lemme just tell y'all. Everyone did not know that stuff. In New York, folks had his number all day long. But in rural MO--what we knew about the man all came from The Apprentice and watching Home Alone 2. Folks thought he was a wealthy businessman who made things better.
And you gotta remember *why* people who were a thousand miles away from his hotels thought that. In the early 2000s, television was about being a millionaire. Either by marrying the Bachelor, answering Regis's questions, or being the ultimate Survivor.
The Apprentice was just another way to become wealthy. And people believed it was real--just like it was real that Richard Hatch won $1M and that Trista ultimately found happiness.
By the summer of 2016, Trump did win the primary.
By the summer of 2016, Trump did win the primary.
And when I returned home for the Fourth of July, there weren't just political signs everywhere--and I mean all over the place--there were flags too. Veterans who used to proudly fly their American flags replaced them with Trump flags. It was surreal.
Back in NYC people thought he was a total joke. Thought there was no way he'd win. I told them what I had seen. That these folks had never been so enthusiastic in my entire life. And that I thought he was going to win.
Those signs stayed there throughout his term. Folks painted on a 2020 during the last election. On January 6th, they flew their flags upside down (and they did it again during Biden's inauguration). And later they painted over a single 0 so that the signs now read "Trump 2024."
And then the January 6th hearings started to happen. Then the news about the investigations involving Mar-o-Lago happened. Then the news about the court cases in Georgia and New York started to reach folks in Missouri.
And lemme tell y'all something.
And lemme tell y'all something.
That corridor I've spent so much of my life travelling through doesn't have a single Trump flag or sign in it (at least as of this weekend).
Not one.
You know what I saw instead?
The American flags are back.
And they're joined by a handful of Ukrainian flags.
Not one.
You know what I saw instead?
The American flags are back.
And they're joined by a handful of Ukrainian flags.
And the political signs I see the most of? They're for @buschvalentine.
The work so many people have been doing in rural Missouri is working. Things are changing. People know the truth and they're fed up.
Don't you dare stop fighting now.
LFG.
The work so many people have been doing in rural Missouri is working. Things are changing. People know the truth and they're fed up.
Don't you dare stop fighting now.
LFG.
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