Finally, an interview with a Middle America Trump voter worth watching. Christopher Gibbs is an Ohio farmer hit hard by the trade war with China.
He was a Trump voter, but is not one now.
"I was on the Trump train, I was off the Trump train, back and forth" Gibbs told Kate Bolduan. "I finally got off at Helsinki. Helsinki was a mess, to me. I couldn't stand the waffling and all of that with Putin, so I'm off the Trump train."
He went on to explain that he has to keep his farm afloat even while Trump uses his patriotism as a wedge, causing Bolduan to leap in and ask him about (Tehran) Tom Cotton's despicable comments earlier in the week minimizing the farmers' sacrifices because they aren't made in combat.
"You speaking out against the trade war, is that unpatriotic, Christopher?" Bolduan asked.
"No, certainly not unpatriotic at all," Gibbs replied. "I'm not going to have my -- certainly not going to have my patriotism questioned! I'm not sure why the president is even bringing this up."
He continued, "Listen, for me to be a patriot, the best thing I can do is take care of my family, to take care of my farm and make sure that I stay viable, because farmers buy things. They buy things that are manufactured."
"By the way, do you know what we buy? We buy things made out of steel, aluminum," he said. "So that's our duty. and why we have to take one in the shorts just so that the president can have a talking point and be tough on China just is a little bit beyond me."
Me too. I have questions, many, many questions. I'm curious about which short sellers benefit from Trump's comments, causing markets to tank. I want to know what genius thinks killing Midwestern farms is good politics, and I want to know what Trump hopes to get out of China if he manages to do a deal. Those manufacturing jobs are never coming back because no American wants to make minimum wage in a textile plant. So what is the actual goal here? And does Trump really think they can just keep buying off the farmers in order to shut them up?
