Trump Voters Remain Loyal Despite Rising Costs as Midterms Near

Calvin Ott, a 75‑year‑old owner of a landscaping firm in McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, is among the “MAGA voters” who say their support for former President Donald Trump has not faded even as everyday expenses have surged since he returned to the White House last year. Ott sits in the dimly lit Fulton Pub, sipping a Coors Light after a doctor’s visit, before driving an hour through the Appalachian Mountains back to his home in Shippensburg.

“I’m 75 years old, and I’m still working,” Ott tells Al Jazeera, a hint of pride in his voice as he shows his right hand, scarred by decades of chainsaw and mower accidents. He has endured quadruple bypass surgery, skin cancer, the loss of fingers, and multiple heart problems. Despite medication costs more than doubling since last year and the inability to retire as he nears 80, the three‑time Trump voter says he will continue to back Republicans in next month’s midterm elections. “I support him 100 percent,” he says, with Foreigner’s “Urgent” playing in the background.

In 2016, fewer than 6,000 voters in Fulton County backed Trump’s campaign; eight years later that figure rose to more than 7,000, contributing to the former president’s return to the White House. For Ott, his loyalty is less about Trump’s record and more about what he believes Democrats would do in power. “He’s the only president that made a promise that he kept,” Ott says. “He hates wars, even though we’re in one. But he’s for America.” He adds, “What the hell did Biden ever give out?” referring to the former president’s $1,400 stimulus checks during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Ott’s perspective reflects a broader pattern in Republican strongholds like McConnellsburg, where MAGA voters tend to be working‑class, white, without college degrees, and distrustful of Washington. A recent Associated Press‑NORC poll found that just 17 percent of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, while slightly more than a quarter approve of his overall economic management.

At the bar beside Ott, retired nursing assistant Rebecca Lashley argues that Trump deserves a chance after what she sees as Biden’s missteps. “It took Biden four years of screwing up. How’s Trump gonna fix it in two years?” she asks. Ott agrees, adding, “Do you realise what Biden left that man? He left that man a hell of a big plate.”

Since resuming office in 2025, Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly denied responsibility for the nation’s cost‑of‑living pressures. 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.’” Energy Secretary Chris Wright echoed the blame in a Fox News interview, saying the country is emerging from “years of energy subtraction” under the previous administration.

Further south, in Amelia County, Virginia, delivery driver Terry Williams, who describes himself as a “Trump‑lican,” shares his frustration with a “bullshit” economy he believes is being sabotaged by a “deep state.” After preparing a Sunday breakfast, he settles onto his couch to watch football, then vents, “I think that Trump just blames Biden because he just can’t come out and tell people the truth.” He blames the Federal Reserve for printing money, saying, “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.” Williams adds that the policies of the central bank have left the country with “fake money” that has no real intrinsic value.

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