The Washington Postrecently paid a visitto rural Durant, Oklahoma, to investigate how Trump’s policies are sitting with rural Americans.
The town is still standing behind their choice of Donald Trump, though some cracks in their affection for the New York billionaire are becoming visible.
After years of state budget reductions, rural Oklahoma is now faced with the prospect of devastating Federal cuts to rural programs.
In Durant, Trump’s budget would eliminate funding for the local Boys and Girls Club. The local after-school arts program also relies on money from the National Endowment for the Arts, which Trump wants to eliminate. The county senior center could lose all of its funding, and the local Farm Service Center, which supports 1,200 local producers, is targeted in Trump’s budget.
But locals are keeping a stiff upper lip. “He won,” said one resident. “Let’s . . . see what he can do.”