Calvin Ott, the owner of a landscaping business in a consistent stronghold for United States President Donald Trump, is one of several so-called “MAGA voters” whose support has not wavered – even as life has gotten a lot more expensive since the president returned to office last year.
asserted
president → call → office
“I’m 75 years old, and I’m still working,” Ott says as he sips his Coors Light beer under the dim lights of Fulton Pub in McConnellsburg.
asserted
he → ’m → McConnellsburg
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The pub, which serves as a watering hole for the town’s approximately 1,000 residents, is where Ott unwinds after his doctor’s appointment before making the one-hour drive back through the Appalachian Mountains to his home in Shippensburg.
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Ott → hit → Shippensburg
“I had quadruple bypasses.
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I → have → bypasses
I’ve had skin cancer.
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I → have → cancer
I have my fingers cut off.
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fingers → have → ?
I’ve had several heart issues”, Ott said with a bit of pride, showing off his right hand that has fallen victim to decades of chainsaw and lawnmower accidents.
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that → have → accidents
Despite rising medical costs – his medications have more than doubled in price since last year – and his inability to retire as he approaches his 80s, the three-time Trump voter said he will continue to vote for Republicans in next month’s US midterm elections.
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he → rise → elections
“I support him 100 percent,” Ott told Al Jazeera as Foreigner’s song Urgent played in the background of the pub.
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song → support → pub
In 2016, less than 6,000 people in Fulton County, where the town is located, supported Trump’s presidential campaign.
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town → locate → campaign
That number rose to more than 7,000 eight years later, helping to fuel Trump’s return to the White House.
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number → rise → House
For Ott, his support is less a reflection of what Trump has done than what Democrats would do if they were in power.
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they → do → power
“He’s the only president that made a promise that he kept,” Ott said.
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Ott → ’ → that
“He hates wars, even though we’re in one.
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we → hat → one
But he’s for America.”
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he → ’ → America
“What the hell did Biden ever give out?” he railed about the economic policies of Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, which included a $1,400 stimulus cheque to Americans through legislation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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which → give → pandemic
Who deserves the blame?
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Who → deserve → blame
The unrelenting support for Trump among his most loyal supporters runs through Republican strongholds like McConnellsburg.
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support → run → McConnellsburg
MAGA voters like Ott make up the backbone of the president’s support: working-class, white, without college degrees, and angry with Washington.
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voters → make → Washington
A poll conducted last month by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 17 percent of US adults approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, while slightly more than a quarter of those surveyed approve of his handling of the economy overall.
Trump’s most fervent supporters say their frustrations – and economic burden – have only grown since Trump’s re-election.
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frustrations → conduct → election
But unlike most Americans, they don’t blame the president for the country’s economic woes.
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they → blame → woes
Instead, they point to Biden, who left office last year in January.
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who → point → January
Seated at the bar next to Ott is Rebecca Lashley, a retired nursing assistant who said Trump deserves the benefit of the doubt after Biden’s policies.
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Trump → seat → policies
“It took Biden four years of screwing up.
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It → take → years
How’s [Trump] gonna fix it in two years?” Lashley asked.
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Lashley → go → years
Ott agreed.
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Ott → agree → ?
“Do you realise what Biden left that man?
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Biden → realise → man
He left that man a hell of a big plate”, he said.
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he → leave → plate
It’s a familiar line frequently touted by the White House.
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It → ’ → House
Since his return to power for a second presidential term in 2025, Trump and members of his administration have regularly claimed they aren’t to blame for the nation’s cost-of-living issues.
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they → claim → issues
In social media posts last month, the president wrote that “price increases throughout America were caused by Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden Administration, not by ‘TRUMP.’
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increases → write → TRUMP
”
“We’re coming out of years of energy subtraction,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a recent Fox News interview as he blamed the Biden administration for rising fuel prices.
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he → come → prices
Five hours south of Pennsylvania, in ruby red Amelia County, Virginia, Terry Williams largely agreed with Trump.
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Williams → agree → Trump
After cooking up a Sunday breakfast, the delivery driver sank deep into his well-worn, waterfall-back couch to prepare for a full afternoon of football viewing.
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driver → cook → viewing
But before the day’s first kickoff, he issued a blunt, expletive-laden rant about a “bullshit” economy that larger “deep state” forces were preventing the president from fixing.
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forces → issue → president
“I think that Trump just [blames Biden] because he just can’t come out and tell people the truth,” the self-described “Trump-lican” said as smells of bacon grease emanated from his kitchen.
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smells → think → kitchen
“The reason why I say that is the Federal Reserve.
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I → say → that
Their answer to everything is to print money.”
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answer → print → money
“The Federal Reserve Bank, the stockholders of the Federal Reserve, whoever the hell these people are, they’re creating more currency because they don’t have no choice.”
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they → create → choice
Williams, who voiced support for Trump’s second-term pressure tactics on the Fed to lower interest rates, said policies created by the US central bank have left the country with currency that has no real intrinsic value.
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that → voice → value
…and 89 more, not listed.
The Aporia
