This rural county hoped to reopen its hospital. Voting for Trump killed it [View all]
Martin County, nestled in northeast North Carolina, had 24,500 residents in 2010. By 2020, that number had dropped to 22,000. Like much of rural America, its population is steadily declining.
Politically, it’s followed a familiar trajectory. President Barack Obama carried the county twice by 5 points. In 2016, President Donald Trump edged out Hillary Clinton, 49.2% to 48.8%. And by 2020, Trump’s margin grew to 52% to President Joe Biden’s 47%. Last year, he won it by 55% to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 45%.
Now the county faces a very different kind of loss: its only hospital shut down in August 2023 due to financial strain, making the nearest emergency room 22 miles away—a 30-minute drive that, for some, is fatal. It’s even farther for more advanced medical services.
There were plans to reopen the hospital, but then Trump’s proposed cuts to Medicaid—framed as a crackdown on “fraud and waste”—shattered that possibility.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/8/2332218/-This-rural-county-hoped-to-reopen-its-hospital-Voting-for-Trump-killed-it
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