Adventures in Stove-Touching
Come meet the Hispanic-majority Pennsylvania town that voted for Trump and still loves him. (But there’s good news in here, too.)
1. All In
Hazleton, Pennsylvania is a small town. It sits up I-81, north of Lebanon and Pottsville. An old coal town, 63 percent of the city’s residents are Hispanic; 37 percent of them foreign-born. Hazleton also voted for Donald Trump in each of the last three elections, with Trump increasing his vote share every four years. In 2024, Trump beat Kamala Harris in Hazleton by 23 points.
Over the weekend the Philadelphia Inquirer reported from Hazleton. The piece is a profile in stove-touching. I cannot recommend it highly enough. The short version:
Hispanic residents of Hazleton overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump.
Hazleton is now a ghost town, with many Hispanic-owned businesses losing their customer base.
Most of these Trump supporters still love him. Because they either:
say the ICE raids aren’t real and are just an exaggeration of social media; or . . .
believe the mass deportation scheme is real and good; or . . .
think it’s real and bad—but is not Trump’s fault.
The long version? My God, it is something to behold. Let’s dive in.