Republicans face midterm backlash from factory workers over Trump's tariffs

Republicans heading into the Nov. 3 midterms are hearing anger from factory workers who say President Donald Trump's tariffs cost them their livelihoods instead of restoring American manufacturing, PBS NewsHour reports in an Associated Press story. Candidates in competitive races in Michigan, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio could pay a price for having stood by him.

Nelson Vandermeer, 62, lost his job as a product designer when Howard Miller, a Zeeland, Michigan, clockmaker that relied on imported parts, shut its factory and let go nearly 200 people. He plans to vote a straight Democratic ticket. Tracy Chew, who backed Trump in 2016, lost her job in April when Case closed its Burlington, Iowa, plant, a closure announced before the tariffs, and she is leaning Democratic again. Winnebago Industries cut 200 jobs, and Vornado Air in Wichita dismissed more than 70 workers.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers maintains a manufacturing boom is under way, pointing to higher output. Yet factory payrolls remain smaller than when Trump returned to office in January 2025. Most economists doubt broad tariffs help, and in February the Supreme Court rejected his emergency declaration behind the "Liberation Day" levies. Rep.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →