Biden finds acceptance in tornado-battered Trump country: 'I’d even call him president'
President Joe Biden visited hostile territory to survey last week's devastating tornado damage but found a largely hospitable response.
The president toured tornado devastation in western Kentucky, where voters backed Donald Trump by nearly a 4-to-1 margin last year and many still refuse to accept him as the rightful winner, but even those who protested his election were glad that he visited, reported the Washington Post.
“I didn’t vote for the president, and I’m not a fan of his policies,” said Clayton Howe, a 57-year-old lifelong resident of Mayfield, which was flattened in last week's storms. “But I appreciate him being here. He’s still the president of the United States.”
Biden won only two of Kentucky's 120 counties, where tattered Trump flags waved amid the ruined homes and businesses, and reporters heard a few shouts of "Let's go Brandon," a conservative in-group slur against the president, but even residents wearing "MAGA" hats were eager to meet with him.
“You can’t help but have compassion for our town,” said Gary Killian, a 55-year-old Trump supporter from Dawson Springs. “I just want to see into his eyes. I want to hear what he has to say, and I can’t say I don’t want to hear him just because I’m from the other side of the aisle.”
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Tami Trevarthen, a 58-year-old who works at a deli market in Mayfield, agreed that Biden should visit but wondered whether he was "coherent," but said she'd be "cordial" if she met him.
“Let’s see what he can do for people," she said.
Her brother George Long, an Army veteran whose home was destroyed by the tornado, also had concerns about Biden's mental fitness and blamed him for rising gas prices and the ongoing pandemic, but said he'd "be diligent and courteous" if given a chance to meet him.
“I’d even call him president," he said. "Everything is too political.”
Tim Andreasen, however, didn't trust Biden to fix his problems, which includes a house with no roof, the destruction of the chicken hatchery where he'd worked, and taking care of two children and two parents.
READ: Rand Paul slammed for request for Kentucky tornado aid after history of denying help to other states
“He can shake my hand and say, ‘I’m here to help you,’ ” the disabled veteran said, “and it’ll go in one ear and out the other.”
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