We Asked Trump Voters, “When Did America Stop Being Great?” Their Answers Were Amazing.

“We have been overlooked, with all these special-interest groups getting their way.”

Smiling voters unfolded chairs or stretched on the grassy slope overlooking the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland Monday. They were there to participate in the first big pro-Trump rally of the GOP convention and to listen to speakers such as far-right luminary Roger Stone and conspiracy shock jock Alex Jones.

Trump’s famous slogan is obviously “Make America Great Again,” but I wanted to know from his most die-hard fans: Exactly when did America stop being great? The video above paints a picture of voters who feel like the very idea of “America” as they know it is slipping away—voters who worry that their values and freedoms are under attack from politicians and the press. “The mainstream media wants to tell us that somehow we’re racist or we’re discriminatory or we’re misogynist,” said Rhona Welsch, a 55-year-old food and beverage worker at a Hawaii resort. “It’s just not true.”

 

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Owned by no one—except you.

We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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