Blue collar Democrats are turning against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and say they plan to vote for Donald Trump in November.
Several callers on Breitbart News Daily, hosted by Stephen K. Bannon on SiriusXM 125, say they were appalled by the Democrats’ refusal to take on the threat of radical Islam, and think Trump understood what it would take to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
Tony in Ohio, whose father was a union organizer, “absolutely” thinks Trump’s message is resonating with blue-collar Democrats. “And just to be clear, I’ve already made up my mind. I’m voting for Trump. No question,” he told Bannon.
“I am very disturbed by the Democratic Party’s refusal to acknowledge the fundamental problem of Islam, which I think is the single greatest threat to the American way of life. When people refuse to accept the reality, that Islam is a religion that is diametrically opposed to most of the things we hold dear, they’re just kidding themselves. I’m a lifelong Democrat, but I just can’t take it anymore,” he added. “I’m sick of the Democratic Party lying to itself and lying to the American people on that, among other issues.”
In part thanks to Breitbart News Daily, Tony said there is “absolutely no way I can vote for Hillary Clinton.”
“That’s just not going to happen,” he said.
Tom in Ohio, a first-time caller with decades of experience in industrial manufacturing, said blue-collar union members will not vote for Clinton under any circumstances.
“I’ve been in industrial manufacturing for about the last 30 years of my career, but I’ve been on the sale side of it. Somebody asked me the other day… How many industrial plants do you think you’ve been into?” he said.
“So I figured it out, and I’ve been in over 2500 manufacturing facilities. I’ve done over 25,000 sales calls. I’m in the thick of things. I’m in Ford plants, GM plants, steel mills, tier one and tier two automotive suppliers — I am in it, all right. I ask and I’m hearing that the politics is coming up like it never did before. And I am telling you right now, brother, the average union rank-and-file member, who’s been a blue-blood Democrat their entire lives, they are not voting for Hillary Clinton.”
“They’re finally coming to the realization that they’ve been hoodwinked for all these years,” he continued. “These people actually make very good money in comparison to the other people in the industry. They’re getting their pockets picked, their premiums have gone up medically, and I ask them, why?”
“They’re starting to finally realize, all right, that you don’t need to vote Democrat to get ahead in life. Most of these guys, they don’t look at Trump as being a Republican or Democrat, or whatever label you want to put on somebody. They look at this guy as completely understanding the business dynamics in America.”
“It’s plant after plant after plant, closed up, weeds growing in the parking lot, and for sale or for lease signs in the front of the building,” he said, noting things weren’t like this only 25 years ago. In Northeastern Ohio, he added, there used to be four General Motors plants, but there’s only one left. “We had seven Ford plants. We’ve got basically one and a half left. we had two Chrysler plants. We have none left!”
Another caller, Dan in Michigan, a Russian immigrant who served in the 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, said he’s witnessed American towns wiped out after manufacturing plants went out of business.
“I’m an immigrant. I’ve learned your language and I have learned it very well. I’m from Russia. And I came here when I was eight years old, so I don’t have a whole lot of memory of Russia, but I’ve heard the family stories. But here’s my point: We’re going down the tubes, and we’re going down damn fast,” he said.
Dan now works as a truck driver and has seen first-hand the devastation trade deals have delivered to small town America: “The towns that I used to go to, that I delivered to, some of them are gone. They’re not even in existence anymore. Plant after plant after plant. Now, you take Donald Trump. This man understands business. This man understands me. I’m a blue collar worker now. He understands me.”
Violent demonstrators and thugs in San Jose, California, that chanted America was “never great” infuriated him, he said.
“And these people down therechanting, ‘America was never great,’ who do they think they are? They don’t know anything about world history. Where would the world be, today, without America from 1917 to 1945? Where would the world be without America fighting Communism? Because you know what — if it wasn’t for America, that they say ‘was never great,’ where would we be today? If there wasn’t the American machine knocking down the Communist machine?” he said.
The Western World is a war with Islam, from America to Germany, Dan continued, attributing his move away from the Democratic party to the refusal of the party to acknowledge the threat radical Islam poses.
“The Islamic way is wanting to hurt America, and the Democrats are so blind — I’m so angry I don’t know how to explain this,” he said.