Forgotten rust belt town embraces Donald Trump – despite his broken promises

Published

11 months ago

August 31, 2024

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They were queuing at dawn for a rally that wouldn’t start for hours. Such is the draw of Donald Trump in places like this.

I’m back in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a town I’ve been to a few times over the past eight years.

I was first here in 2016, on the night when Donald Trump dramatically defeated Hillary Clinton – the election which propelled him to the White House. I returned four years later when Trump lost to Joe Biden.

This is a rust belt town which feels now to be rusting away.

It’s one of those neglected places in America, a town bypassed by highways and forgotten by people who live a better life somewhere else.

The thriving steel industry on which Johnstown was built is long gone. The vast metal plant which once dominated the town centre now employs just a fraction of the workers. Young people who see opportunity elsewhere leave as soon as they can.

Main Street is now a collection of vape shops, fast food franchises, the odd shop and boarded up businesses. One independent restaurant which had just opened on my last visit is still open, but it’s empty.

This part of Pennsylvania is Trump country. And today, there is a buzz in the air because their man is passing through.

With 10 weeks to go until the most pivotal of elections, Donald Trump and his opponent, Kamala Harris, are criss-crossing the country, shuttling between the few swing states where the future of this country will be decided.

In Pennsylvania and just a few other states, the margins are so tight, it could swing either way.

And so, just as he did in 2016 and 2020, Donald Trump came to Johnstown to tell the people here, again, that he will make their lives better.

“We’re going to win back the White House.” he told the cheering crowd in a packed arena.

“We’re going to make this country greater than it’s ever been… We’re going to bring in tremendous numbers of factories.

“Together, we will deliver low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, low inflation, so that everyone can afford groceries, a car and a home.”

He hit every button and here, among the faithful who attend these rallies, they believe his pledges.

But here’s the thing. Despite his promises, he never got the factories outside this arena re-opened when he was last president.

A combination of factors is fuelling Trump’s enduring appeal.

Part of it is explained by deep-set conservative Christian values which Trumpian Republicanism has latched on to so well – the yearning for ‘the good old days’.

Part of it is the soaring inflation over the past few years – the sharp post-pandemic increase in global commodity prices, compounded by Ukraine war-related supply chain and energy delivery disruption. Here, Joe Biden foots the blame. He’s been the president. No debate.

But it’s also viscerally clear that part of America feels marginalised and ignored as ‘progressive’ liberals progress with policies and lifestyles that people in places like Johnstown feel are not aligned with them or helping them.

Put simply, the lives of the people in this arena felt better back under the first Trump term, despite the unfulfilled promises, because they have felt even worse through the past four years under Joe Biden.

Donald Trump, the salesman, has harnessed this anger with pitch-perfect rhetoric. He hears their disillusionment and he compounds it as he projects forward.

“Comrade Kamala launched a radical left war on Pennsylvania energy that will destroy the economy of your state,” he told them in a speech peppered with baseless assertions.

“Can you believe that Kamala Harris wants to outlaw your car and truck and force you to buy electric vehicles, whether you like them or not, whether you can afford it or not? When we win, on day one, I will tell Pennsylvania to drill, baby, drill.”

His speech darted from topic to topic to cheers and pantomime boos.

“She does not care if your family is struggling and she did absolutely nothing to fix it. She’s the vice president, but she just does not care.

“She does not care about women’s rights because she supported destroying women’s sports and athletic scholarships. She wants men to play in women’s sports.”

He repeated “Comrade Kamala” over and over. Not only does she represent continuity from Biden, but she is, he said, a radical-left communist.

Few watch the cable TV networks in places like this, such is the level of distrust in the mainstream media, but had they watched Harris’s first interview, with CNN on Thursday, they’d have heard her rebuking that caricature with language that sounded more centrist than socialist.

It involved U-turns, yes – like on fracking, a big industry in Philadelphia, which she once said she wanted to ban.

But on the broad political spectrum that reflects America, she fell more towards the moderate middle ground than many of Mr Trump’s own policies.

Take immigration. Kamala Harris pledged to sign into law the tough bipartisan border security deal which Mr Trump torpedoed a few months ago.

His allies in Congress blocked the bill despite it being precisely what he wanted to fix the chaotic southern border. Why did he have it blocked? Because he knew its success would help the Democrats.

Beyond immigration, it was the livelihoods of everyday Americans which Kamala Harris chose to focus on in the CNN interview, not progressive base motivators like reproductive rights or gun control.

The problem is that even if the crowd in this rally were watching the Harris interview; even if they did hear her words, which were still undeniably light on policy detail, they don’t believe her.

“The people of Pennsylvania are smart…” Mr Trump said. “They are not going to fall for it. She will destroy. If you don’t have fracking, you don’t have a commonwealth.”

The crowd roared.

Both sides in this starkly divided country have been led to a place where they have no trust in the other. There are two siloed worlds here and it’s increasingly embittered, resentful and aggrieved.

US

RFK Jr announces US is scrapping $500m of vaccine projects

Published

9 hours ago

August 6, 2025

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RFK Jr announces US is scrapping 0m of vaccine projects

America’s vaccine-sceptic health secretary has announced $500m (£375.8m) worth of cuts to their development in the country.

The US health department is cancelling contracts and pulling funding for jabs to fight viruses like COVID-19 and the flu, it was announced on Tuesday.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, known as RFK Jr, said 22 projects developing mRNA vaccines will be halted. It is the latest in a series of decisions to reduce US vaccine programmes.

The health secretary has fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, reduced recommendations for COVID-19 shots, and refused to endorse vaccines despite a worsening measles outbreak.

RFK Jr claims the US will now prioritise “safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don’t collapse when viruses mutate”.

Responding to the announcement of cuts, Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations, said: “I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business.”

Dr Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said RFK Jr’s move was short-sighted and that mRNA vaccines “certainly saved millions of lives”, including during the pandemic.

MRNA vaccines work by delivering a snippet of genetic code into the body that triggers an immune response, rather than introducing a real version of the virus.

According to the UK Health Security Agency, the “leading advantage of mRNA vaccines is that they can be designed and produced more quickly than traditional vaccines”.

Moderna, which was studying a combo mRNA shot that can tackle COVID and flu for the US health department, previously said it believed mRNA could speed up production of flu jabs compared with traditional vaccines.

Scientists are also exploring how mRNA could be used in cancer immunotherapies and in other illnesses.

At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat cancer.

RFK Jr touts ‘effective’ alternative

The health department said the abandoned mRNA projects signal a “shift in vaccine development priorities.”

“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Mr Kennedy said in a statement.

Later, he said work is underway on an alternative – a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity”.

“It could be effective – we believe it’s going to be effective – against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” he said.

US

Bill and Hillary Clinton subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein probe

Published

9 hours ago

August 6, 2025

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Bill and Hillary Clinton subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein probe

The US House Oversight Committee has issued subpoenas for depositions with former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton relating to the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

The Republican-controlled committee also subpoenaed the Justice Department for files relating to the paedophile financier, as well as eight former top law enforcement officials.

Donald Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein‘s crimes, claiming he ended their relationship a long time ago.

The US president has repeatedly tried to draw a line under the Justice Department’s decision not to release a full accounting of the investigation, but politicians from both major political parties, as well as many in Mr Trump’s political base, have refused to drop their interest in the Epstein files.

Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, and since then, conspiracy theories have swirled about what information investigators gathered on him and who else may have been involved in his crimes.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee initiated the subpoenas for the Clintons last month, as well as demanding all communications between former president Joe Biden’s Democrat administration and the Justice Department about Epstein.

The committee previously issued a subpoena for an interview with Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who had been serving a prison sentence in Florida for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. She was recently transferred to another facility in Texas.

Mr Clinton was among those acquainted with Epstein before the criminal investigation against him in Florida became public two decades ago. He has never been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them.

Mr Clinton previously said, through a spokesperson, that while he travelled on Epstein’s jet, he never visited his homes and had no knowledge of his crimes.

This is a rare escalation

The subpoenaing of former president Bill Clinton is an escalation, both legally and politically.

Historically, it is rare for congressional oversight to demand deposition from former presidents of the United States.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and accomplice, had already been summonsed.

But the House Oversight Committee has now added Bill and Hillary Clinton, several former Attorneys General and former FBI directors to its list.

It signals bipartisan momentum – Democrats voting with Republicans for transparency.

The committee will now hear from several people with known ties to Epstein, his connection with Bill Clinton having been well-documented.

But the subpoenas set up a potential clash between Congress and the Department of Justice.

Donald Trump, the candidate, had vowed to release them. A government led by Mr Trump, the president, chose not to.

If Attorney General Pam Bondi still refuses to release the files, it will fuel claims of a constitutional crisis in the United States.

But another day of Epstein headlines demonstrates the enduring public interest in this case.

The subpoenas give the Justice Department until 19 August to hand over the requested records.

The committee is also asking the former officials to appear for depositions throughout August, September and October, concluding with Hillary Clinton on 9 October and Bill Clinton on 14 October.

Although several former presidents, including Mr Trump, have been issued congressional subpoenas, none has ever appeared before members under compulsion.

Last month, Mr Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release information presented to the grand jury that indicted Maxwell for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

US

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ‘seeks pardon from Trump’

Published

11 hours ago

August 6, 2025

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs 'seeks pardon from Trump'

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been in contact with Donald Trump about a pardon, a source close to the rapper’s legal team has told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.

A White House spokesperson said it “will not comment on the existence or nonexistence of any clemency request”.

On Tuesday, the rapper was denied bail ahead of his sentencing in October, when he could face up to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of prostitution-related offences.

The sentence will likely be much shorter than that, however.

In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution – but cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, which carried potential life sentences.

During an interview with news channel Newsmax last Friday, Mr Trump said “they have talked to me about Sean” but did not announce any decision.

The president seemed to cast doubt that he would grant a pardon, however.

“You know, I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great. And seemed like a nice guy, I didn’t know him well,” Trump said. “But when I ran for office, he was very hostile.”

“I don’t know,” Trump said. “It makes it more – I’m being honest, it makes it more difficult to do.”

Trump was then asked, “more likely a ‘no’ for Combs?”

Trump responded: “I would say so.”

Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture, as well as a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.

Now, as well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.