Large “Trump 2020” flags and placards supporting the US president adorn David Mitchko’s Little White House and the gardens of many of his neighbors in the suburb of Scranton, the hometown of Democrat Joe Biden.
Sitting at the entrance to his garage, a can of soda in hand, the 50-year-old remembers the 2016 presidential campaign, when it was rather rare in this former industrial region of Pennsylvania to be so clearly in favor. of the Republican candidate.
“At the time, the surroundings were covered in Democratic colors, but it is really changing,” says the father of 53 years.
Still affiliated with the Democratic camp four years ago, David Mitchko had yet voted for Donald Trump: “I appreciated what he had to say.”
And the gap has widened even further since with his former party, which, he regrets, “no longer supports workers as in the past”.
The native of Olyphant, in the northern suburbs of Scranton, worked for over twenty years, like his wife, in a CD and DVD manufacturing plant. “In the good old days, more than 4,000 people worked there. Then the factory ended up closing and the jobs were relocated to Mexico, ”he says.
David Mitchko defends tooth and nail Donald Trump, whom the Democrats criticize wrongly according to him: “Whatever he says, it’s not right. No matter what he does, it’s not right. They have been investigating him for almost four years now. This is torture.”
After officially leaving the Democratic Party two years ago, he is now actively campaigning for the re-election of the Republican president.
His garage has become a relay antenna for the distribution of pro-Trump campaign material. We lined up in front of his house, he says, to collect some 14,000 signs, distributed in a few weeks.
“I was surprised to see priests coming, police officers from all neighborhoods, all municipalities, prison guards, from other counties too, truck drivers,” he explains proudly.
Snub
Sitting on the steps at the entrance to the house, her daughter Mackenzie listens religiously to her father. This is his first presidential election and his voice will also go to Donald Trump.
“I think he’s just trying to do what’s best for America and for the people. That’s what I really like about him, ”explains the 19-year-old student.
Pennsylvania is one of those pivotal states that make up the US presidential election. Donald Trump won it in 2016, but it is there this year for the moment sown by Joe Biden in the polls.
The Republican President came to Scranton to campaign in Scranton on Thursday, the same day Barack Obama’s former vice president gave his inaugural address as the Democratic White House candidate. .
Lance Stange, local leader of the Republican Party, does not hide his optimism. Since the start of Trump’s mandate, a thousand Democrats have left their party each year to join his, he notes, black mask on his face.
Despite the pandemic, Republican troops continue to actively campaign in northeastern Pennsylvania for re-election as president.
“The activists from this office have gone door to door at more than 50,000 people and have made hundreds of thousands of phone calls” since May, says Mr. Stange, who emphasizes not having seen much of the Democrats in the field.
In the building opposite, Evie Rafalko-McNulty is a local political figure. Elected Democrat in the county, her office is decorated with photos of her with Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden.
She says door-to-door is not possible this year with the pandemic, but that Democratic activists are not idle between mailing and canvassing.
“I think the task is much easier than it was four years ago. Joe Biden is a part of us, ”she emphasizes. “I believe his mission should be to just be himself and speak out about the values of the people of Pennsylvania.”