Before Donald Trump arrived to be worshiped by some of the rural poor that will fill the Butler County, PA fairgrounds, steelworkers in Pittsburgh rallied for President Joe Biden.
WTAE in Pittsburgh reported:
“In Pennsylvania alone, Donald Trump and his administration cost us over 275,000 jobs. Meanwhile, Joe Biden and his administration have created over a half a million jobs in just under four years in office,” Bernie Hall, District 10 director of the United Steelworkers, told the crowd.
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In the rally at Steelworkers headquarters, Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council President Darrin Kelly and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey both voiced full-throated support for Biden.
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Kelly praised Biden for “the dedication of a human being that has been a civil servant for this country for five decades. You stand by that person. And we are very confident in him, his administration, the policy he has in this election in this state.”
Meanwhile, Trump is heading back to Butler County, which some unfamiliar with the area may refer to as Pittsburgh, but that would be wildly inaccurate. Butler County is 35 miles from Pittsburgh, and specifically where Trump is rallying is one of the most economically depressed regions in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Butler County’s economy is carried by the booming Cranberry Township area. The rest of the country much like its rural neighbors is controlled by Republicans, rural, and poor.
Butler County hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since LBJ in 1968. As someone who grew up minutes where Trump is holding his event today, I can say from first hand experience that the point of this rally is to squeeze out every rural red Republican vote that he can get out of that region.
The contrast that played out between the Pittsburgh steelworkers and Trump’s rally is the real race to determine which candidate will win Pennsylvania. Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by driving up turnout of Democrats in rural red counties.
If Biden can do the same thing in 2024, he will be in a good position to carry his birth state for second time. While some Democrats grew a pair of weak knees after the first debate, the steelworkers are standing strong with Joe Biden.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association