Tariffs and Rural Realities

Thanks to President Trump’s policies, a confluence of events is set to absolutely clobber rural America. First there’s Trump’s trade war. On Tuesday, Trump unleashed a bizarre set of ramblings that indicated he’s fine with letting it drag on forever, our exporters be damned. Meanwhile, there are new signs that farmers in Trump country are already getting hammered. The House GOP’s planned cuts to Medicaid will likely pose a massive problem for rural hospitals. And big GOP cuts to food stamps will also inflict pain on rural areas. We talked to Matt Hildreth, executive director of RuralOrganizing.org  and a veteran Democratic operative in rural areas. He explains why the perfect storm of policies bearing down on rural America is unusual, and reflects on whether his party will be able to translate this into real gains—or whether this will once again prove a chimera. 

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