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Photos: Deep in Trump Country, faith in the President remains unshaken

Deep in the American South, Elliott County in Kentucky, a blue-collar union stronghold, voted for the Democrat in every presidential election for its 147-year existence. That is, until Donald Trump came along promising to wind back the clock. As Trump completes the first year of his presidency, faith in his ‘Make America Great Again’ promise remains strong.

Updated on: Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM IST

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1/12

A newscast on President Trump plays as customers play cards in the Frosty Freeze restaurant in Sandy Hook, Kentucky on December 14, 2017. Everyone in town comes to this diner for nostalgia and homestyle cooking. And recently, reporters came from all over the world to puzzle over politics — because Elliott County, a blue-collar union stronghold, voted for the Democrat in each and every presidential election for its 147-year existence. Until Donald Trump came along. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

A newscast on President Trump plays as customers play cards in the Frosty Freeze restaurant in Sandy Hook, Kentucky on December 14, 2017. Everyone in town comes to this diner for nostalgia and homestyle cooking. And recently, reporters came from all over the world to puzzle over politics — because Elliott County, a blue-collar union stronghold, voted for the Democrat in each and every presidential election for its 147-year existence. Until Donald Trump came along. (David Goldman / AP)

2/12

Main Street (C), cuts through Sandy Hook. Despite the president’s plummeting approval ratings, he remains profoundly popular in these mountains, a region so badly battered by the collapse of the coal industry it became the symbolic heart of Trump’s white working-class base. Many families can trace their ancestry back generations on the same land. Almost everyone is white, and almost everyone is Christian. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Main Street (C), cuts through Sandy Hook. Despite the president’s plummeting approval ratings, he remains profoundly popular in these mountains, a region so badly battered by the collapse of the coal industry it became the symbolic heart of Trump’s white working-class base. Many families can trace their ancestry back generations on the same land. Almost everyone is white, and almost everyone is Christian. (David Goldman / AP)

3/12

Steven Whitt opens the Frosty Freeze restaurant that he runs with his wife. His diner looks, sounds and smells the same as it did when it opened 50-years-ago. People like it that way, he thinks. It reminds them of a time before the world seemed to stray and when coal was king. “He was the hope we were all waiting on, the guy riding up on the white horse. There was a new energy about everybody here.” (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Steven Whitt opens the Frosty Freeze restaurant that he runs with his wife. His diner looks, sounds and smells the same as it did when it opened 50-years-ago. People like it that way, he thinks. It reminds them of a time before the world seemed to stray and when coal was king. “He was the hope we were all waiting on, the guy riding up on the white horse. There was a new energy about everybody here.” (David Goldman / AP)

4/12

Photos curled at the edges decorate a board in the restaurant. The national news and ceaseless Twitter taunts scroll across the diner’s TV, rarely registering. Allegiance here means God, guns, patriotism, saying “Merry Christmas” and not Happy Holidays. It means validation against gay marriage, immigration and factories moving overseas. And tearing down a political system that neglected them in favour of big cities. On those counts, they believe Trump delivered. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Photos curled at the edges decorate a board in the restaurant. The national news and ceaseless Twitter taunts scroll across the diner’s TV, rarely registering. Allegiance here means God, guns, patriotism, saying “Merry Christmas” and not Happy Holidays. It means validation against gay marriage, immigration and factories moving overseas. And tearing down a political system that neglected them in favour of big cities. On those counts, they believe Trump delivered. (David Goldman / AP)

5/12

Chesla Whitt (R), talks with employee Angela Whitley in the Frosty Freeze restaurant. Whitt isn’t quite sure how much faith to put in Trump to improve things in her own life. She liked him on “The Apprentice.” She liked that he was funny and knew how to make money, and so she thinks everyone ought to calm down and give him a chance. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Chesla Whitt (R), talks with employee Angela Whitley in the Frosty Freeze restaurant. Whitt isn’t quite sure how much faith to put in Trump to improve things in her own life. She liked him on “The Apprentice.” She liked that he was funny and knew how to make money, and so she thinks everyone ought to calm down and give him a chance. (David Goldman / AP)

6/12

Wes Lewis plays cards with fellow regulars at the Frosty Freeze. “He’s already done enough to get my vote again,” Lewis says. He thinks the mines and the factories will soon roar back to life, and if they don’t, he believes they would have if Democrats, Republicans and the media had gotten out of the way. What Lewis has after Trump is a belief that his president is pulling for people like him. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Wes Lewis plays cards with fellow regulars at the Frosty Freeze. “He’s already done enough to get my vote again,” Lewis says. He thinks the mines and the factories will soon roar back to life, and if they don’t, he believes they would have if Democrats, Republicans and the media had gotten out of the way. What Lewis has after Trump is a belief that his president is pulling for people like him. (David Goldman / AP)

7/12

Dale Ferguson stands in his hunting cabin decorated with deer as he prepares to go out on a hunt. Ferguson has three priorities in life and in politics, in this order: God, guns, family. Like it used to be, he says. And now he sees himself reflected in America’s president. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Dale Ferguson stands in his hunting cabin decorated with deer as he prepares to go out on a hunt. Ferguson has three priorities in life and in politics, in this order: God, guns, family. Like it used to be, he says. And now he sees himself reflected in America’s president. (David Goldman / AP)

8/12

Dwight Whitley (C) plays the banjo with Jackie Lewis (L), and Lewis’ brother, Wendell, during one of their regular country and bluegrass jam sessions. “Trump is working hard and doing some really good things,” he says. He likes his tough talk, his stance on guns and immigration and religion. He says he’s seen coal trucks on the roads, and that gives him hope that the blue-collar economy is improving like Trump promised. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Dwight Whitley (C) plays the banjo with Jackie Lewis (L), and Lewis’ brother, Wendell, during one of their regular country and bluegrass jam sessions. “Trump is working hard and doing some really good things,” he says. He likes his tough talk, his stance on guns and immigration and religion. He says he’s seen coal trucks on the roads, and that gives him hope that the blue-collar economy is improving like Trump promised. (David Goldman / AP)

9/12

Terry Stinson (L) a retired construction worker, talks with Deborah Harmon at the Frosty Freeze restaurant. A Frosty Freeze regular, “I damn sure didn’t vote for Trump. I’d rather walk through hell wearing gasoline britches,” he barks. The country has been sold trickle-down economics before, he says, “And it’s never trickled down to Sandy Hook. Why would it this time?” (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Terry Stinson (L) a retired construction worker, talks with Deborah Harmon at the Frosty Freeze restaurant. A Frosty Freeze regular, “I damn sure didn’t vote for Trump. I’d rather walk through hell wearing gasoline britches,” he barks. The country has been sold trickle-down economics before, he says, “And it’s never trickled down to Sandy Hook. Why would it this time?” (David Goldman / AP)

10/12

Steven Whitt checks the date on a tombstone as part of his funeral home business in Sandy Hook. The Whitts cobble together a living with a couple jobs. It represents the cracks in America that drove Whitt, a lifelong Democrat, from supporting Obama to buying a “Make America Great Again” cap he still keeps. He blames the “brick wall” in Washington blocking everything Trump proposes while “small people” like them are left again to languish. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Steven Whitt checks the date on a tombstone as part of his funeral home business in Sandy Hook. The Whitts cobble together a living with a couple jobs. It represents the cracks in America that drove Whitt, a lifelong Democrat, from supporting Obama to buying a “Make America Great Again” cap he still keeps. He blames the “brick wall” in Washington blocking everything Trump proposes while “small people” like them are left again to languish. (David Goldman / AP)

11/12

Reggie Dickerson looks out his home in Sandy Hook. “I would love for him to come here, see the people, what’s been taken from them, and help restore it.” His community suffered a one-two punch, he says. It lost the tobacco industry, and then coal. Families left dependent on welfare, and now they’re depending on Trump to revive coal -- and manufacturing across the country-- and bring back work. (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

Reggie Dickerson looks out his home in Sandy Hook. “I would love for him to come here, see the people, what’s been taken from them, and help restore it.” His community suffered a one-two punch, he says. It lost the tobacco industry, and then coal. Families left dependent on welfare, and now they’re depending on Trump to revive coal -- and manufacturing across the country-- and bring back work. (David Goldman / AP)

12/12

As Wes Lewis arrives to his regular haunt, heading for his table the next morning, he said he’d been thinking about whether Trump would pull off his promises. “Here’s the big thing,” he says, shuffling the deck of cards, “if Trump lies to us, it won’t be anything different than what the rest of them always did.” (David Goldman / AP)

Updated on Dec 28, 2017 11:31 AM

As Wes Lewis arrives to his regular haunt, heading for his table the next morning, he said he’d been thinking about whether Trump would pull off his promises. “Here’s the big thing,” he says, shuffling the deck of cards, “if Trump lies to us, it won’t be anything different than what the rest of them always did.” (David Goldman / AP)

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