Ample evidence already exists that Donald Trump doesn’t care at all for those who voted for him in 2016, or for his cultish base that continues to support him no matter the cost.
So far, that tally includes a tax overhaul for billionaires, the weakening of the Affordable Care Act, a trade war with tariffs that crippled U.S. farmers, and now, a government shutdown that further damages those farmers’ chances of recovering despite a taxpayer-funded bailout.
On Saturday, Axios reported that rural western states that voted for Trump in 2016 “are disproportionately affected by the government shutdown,” now in its 22nd day. The Trump shutdown has become the longest in U.S. history, with no immediate end in sight.
According to Axios, six of the 10 states with the most federal employees affected by the shutdown went for Trump over candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. Those states are Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho, and West Virginia.
The report includes an interactive map showing nine departments affected by the partial shutdown—Homeland Security, HUD, Commerce, Interior, Transportation, State, Agriculture, Justice, and Treasury—as well as employees affected at the EPA, FDA, Indian Health Services, NASA, and Small Business Administration. You can view it here.
Meanwhile, members of Congress left town on Friday.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that federal workers support his decision to shut down the government over his phony border wall. On Thursday, he told Fox News’ unofficial presidential adviser Sean Hannity that, “Many of the people that aren’t getting their check, they get it, they’re going to get it soon, but many of the people, they’re with us 100%. They want us to win this battle.”
On Friday, Trump said he appreciated the “support” from federal workers.
The next day, alone in Washington, Trump continued to rage on Twitter, urging the Democrats to return to the nation’s capital. “I am in the White House waiting for you!” he tweeted.
Later, he wrote, “We have a massive Humanitarian Crisis at our Southern Border. We will be out for a long time unless the Democrats come back from their ‘vacations’ and get back to work. I am in the White House ready to sign!”
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday that, “When the president acts, we will respond to whatever he does,” Politico reported. She added, “A new idea might be for Republicans to stand up to the president and say it’s wrong to shut down government.”
Equally responsible for the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who refuses to call up for a vote legislation that would reopen the government. Meanwhile, lawmakers in the House already have voted on four funding bills that would reopen parts of the government while the debate over Trump’s wall continues.
As furloughed federal workers missed their first paycheck on Friday, McConnell headed back to his home state of Kentucky, CNN reported.
“Sen. McConnell and his caucus are AWOL in the middle of this shutdown. They are hiding out,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said on Friday, according to CNN.