“I don’t know how Donald Trump won the farmers vote in 2016 because he has gone bankrupt so many times”
Sarah Moser, a Republican farmer from Ohio
Sarah Moser is the mother of three children. She lives in a converted barn with three Saint Bernard, horses and two pigs baptized Salvador and Cindy, rare survivors of the pandemic and Donald Trump’s trade war with China.
“Because of the import taxes imposed by China in response to our president’s policy and because of the coronavirus, we no longer had buyers for our pigs,” she explains. “Several breeders had to have them euthanized because they had no more room.”
The unlikely presence of Salvador and Cindy in Sarah Moser’s garden symbolizes the incredible situation she found herself in during Donald Trump’s presidency. To make ends meet, the farmer works part-time for a renewable energy company. His rejection of Donald Trump is deeply rooted in these lands. “I don’t know how Donald Trump won the farmers vote in 2016 because he has gone bankrupt so many times,” she slips. “Farmers will tell you, a good farmer won’t go bankrupt just to pay off his debts.”
“I was told that I was only a pseudo-republican because I voted for Barack Obama in 2012”
Sarah Moser, a Republican farmer from Ohio
In 2016, Sarah voted for Florida Senator Marco Rubio in the Republican primaries before endorsing libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in the presidential election. A choice that she bitterly regrets and which is at the origin of her commitment to Operation Grant. This movement of Republicans wants to incite 150,000 conservative voters who supported Donald Trump 4 years ago in the Midwestern state to vote for Democrat Joe Biden by tipping Ohio.
Sarah grew up in a family that upholds the values of the Republican Party: patriotism, army, family, religion and free enterprise. His father was a lieutenant colonel.
“I thought that was it, being a Republican, but I realize that I was naive,” she continues. “I was told that I was just a pseudo-Republican because I voted for Barack Obama in 2012.”
“I am for what is right”
Sarah turns to her husband Kyle. “And you, are you a Republican?” The man pauses. “I am for what is right,” he quips. On paper, Kyle could be the sketch of Donald Trump’s voter: farmer, white, Bud Light fan and American football fan. But he too will vote for Joe Biden next month.
The wall of support for Donald Trump appears to be cracking across rural and white America in recent weeks. The president and Joe Biden are neck and neck in Ohio , a state that Donald Trump easily won 4 years ago. This seems to be left behind in Pennsylvania and Michigan , two neighboring states of Ohio which will also be decisive on November 3.
“Donald Trump will transform our country into an authoritarian state if he is re-elected”
Michael Anne Johnson, a former Republican prosecutor from Ohio
A three-hour drive from Van Wert, in a comfortable suburb of Cleveland, Michael Anne Johnson, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney, is also involved in Operation Grant.
“I’ve been a Republican since I was a teenager,” she says. “For me, this party embodied respect for individual freedoms and free enterprise. Donald Trump will transform our country into an authoritarian state if he is re-elected.”
Johnson denounces the lack of political courage of elected Republican officials in the face of the crises sown by the president. The retired prosecutor is aware of the price she will have to pay for her engagement against Donald Trump.
“If Joe Biden is elected, I don’t think I would find my place in the Democratic Party and the Republicans won’t want me anymore,” she concludes. “But whatever. We will have fulfilled our mission.”