A year into Donald Trump’s presidency, signs of economic strain are visible across rural Arkansas, including in Lincoln County, where Trump apparently won 74 percent of the vote in the 2024 election. One of the farmers in the Trump-voting rural community has even expressed his disappointment and regret, blaming the current president for his community’s financial struggles, as the prices didn’t decrease; instead, the cost of living grew more expensive.
Talk Like a Pro media recently conducted their own case studies in rural Arkansas, and one farmer and voter named Terry, from Lincoln County, stood out the most. That’s because Terry is allegedly a triple Trump voter, and one of his reasons for his voting pattern is how, “Prices will come down. You just watch. They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast.” Now, however, Terry is struggling to make ends meet, “Every time we go to Walmart it’s over $100 a week,” laments the Trump voter.
Terry’s not alone in this situation, of course. Lincoln County residents can barely afford any kind of healthcare at the moment, and farms and businesses are collapsing. As Terry put it, “And health insurance charges are outrageous.” Another farmer named Todd had the same experience and sentiments as Terry, “Inputs are up, the cost of capital is up and commodities are down. It’s just everything. It’s hurting bad.”
After voting for Trump thrice, however, it appears the affected populace of rural Arkansas has vowed never to make the same mistake for the fourth time. Some former Trump supporters say they are reconsidering. Sandy Via, a Star City resident on disability benefits who voted for Trump in 2016, said she no longer supports him. “He didn’t do nothing for me,” she said.
People online are pointing out the consequences of their vote
The situation of the rural Arkansas population has attracted some viral attention online, particularly on Reddit, where critics have flocked to discuss just how the farmers might have dug their own graves, so to speak. One commenter even mocked them, “Why would Biden do this to them?” supposedly as a callback to how some MAGA fanatics kept blaming the previous Democrat administration.
Other commenters, however, are well aware that while certain Trump voters are now reeling from the consequences of their vote, “It’s a real shame their consequences inevitably become ours as well.” Sadly, for many, they have given up on trying to reason out with MAGA, “It’s astounding. I don’t think even becoming homeless would make them see sense. They’ll keep burying their heads in the sand rather than admit they [expletive] up and got bamboozled.”
