Politics
A Pennsylvania County and the Political Tensions in America
The politics of the area have also shifted.
For two decades its voters reliably leaned Democratic, but Donald Trump won the county in 2016 and again four years later, both times by solid margins.
Dwayne McDavitt, a retired prison guard and a Bikers for Trump leader, is one of the more visible local backers of the former president.
Before the rally in Scranton, he explained that he doubted the result of the 2020 election because he simply did not believe Trump could have lost fairly: “Tell me how Joe Biden could get 81 million votes.”
But Democrats hoped they could move the county back in their direction and made an intensive effort to do so.
County officials were vigilant leading up to Election Day. Luzerne County became a hotbed of election denialism in 2020, and Pennsylvania is an open-carry state. Some people feared voters might bring guns to the polls. Election workers were told they could bring their own guns.
The night before the election, a group of campaign volunteers organized by Jennifer Ziemba, the wife of the Luzerne County Republican Party chairman, gathered at Ziemba’s home in Harveys Lake, a prosperous community outside Wilkes-Barre.
They were calling Republican voters whose mail-in ballots had flaws like a missing date to tell them they had to cast provisional ballots in person.
“We’re not really MAGA-looking,” one of the women said. But they were staunch Trump supporters.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
“The women voting solely on abortion make me crazy,” Ziemba said. “I’d gladly give up my abortion rights and my daughter’s for my son not to have to go to war. We’ll have peace with Trump.”
Another woman, Lee Ann McDermott, who owns a real estate appraisal business with her husband, John, thinks the economy will improve under Trump. “With the interest rates high, no one was refinancing.”
On Election Day, most of the state’s counties shifted further to the right, tilting Pennsylvania and its 19 Electoral College votes to Trump by about 130,000 voters.
She was sitting in the front parlor of her Wilkes-Barre home, built by her great-great grandfather.
Wynn’s ancestors escaped slavery by fleeing to Pennsylvania before the Civil War.
The morning after the election, some of the Bikers for Trump gathered to celebrate at D’s Diner, in the Wilkes-Barre suburb of Plains Township.
A man they did not know, a retired financial planner named Kim Pace, approached their table. He began by saying that his wife did not think it was a good idea to talk to them. He had voted for Harris.
“Congratulations, guys,” he said. “I hope it all works out.” His tone suggested that he was doubtful.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Dave Ragan, a U.S. Army veteran who had arrived on his motorcycle, stood up to respond. “We changed the world!” he said. “I don’t have to worry about my stepdaughter having a boy in the locker room.”
“Let me tell you something,” Pace said. “That stuff is overblown.” He wished them well and left.
Away from the table, he said, “If Harris had won, there was going to be trouble.”
In the days after the election, political tensions lingered in the community.
On Thursday evening, John McDermott, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, sat at home with his wife, Lee Ann, drinking a vodka and tonic after a round of golf. McDermott voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Trump in 2020.
This year, he voted for Harris. “I couldn’t bring myself to vote for him,” he said. “He’s a convicted felon. He believes in conspiracy theories.”
Lee Ann, a county council member, saw matters differently: She was one of the women making calls at Jennifer Ziemba’s house on the eve of the election. Now she was on her way to meet some of them at a restaurant to toast Trump’s win.
The mood was festive when McDermott arrived. “We’re getting Trumpy!” one of the women exclaimed, as they raised their cosmopolitans and glasses of wine.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Among the revelers was Shelley Meuser, the wife of Representative Dan Meuser, whose district includes a part of Luzerne County.
“We got our country back!” shouted Terry Eckert, who is a real estate agent.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Thirty miles down the road from Wilkes-Barre is Luzerne County’s other city, Hazleton. Its population of 30,000 is 63 percent Latino, an estimated 90 percent of whom are from the Dominican Republic.
There are at least six Catholic churches and many Pentecostal congregations in the community. One of them is the Iglesia Cristiana Agua de Vida Hazleton, where Elizabeth Torrez is the pastor.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Philip Montgomery is a photographer whose work examines the fractured state of America. Michael Sokolove, a contributing writer for the magazine since 2002, has written extensively on Pennsylvania and its politics.
Videos by Tre Cassetta.
“It will be my job, if confirmed as attorney general, to make those decisions. Politics will not play a part. I’ve demonstrated that my entire career as a prosecutor.” “You joined Mr. Trump in working to overturn the 2020 election. You’ve repeatedly described investigations and prosecutions of Mr. Trump as witch hunts, and you have echoed his calls for investigating and prosecuting his political opponents. This flies in the face of evidence. These are the kinds of anti-democratic efforts that in the past you have defended. And it’s critical that we understand whether you remain supportive of Mr. Trump’s actions.” “What would you do if your career, D.O.J. prosecutors, came to you with a case to prosecute — grounded in the facts and law — but the White House directs you to drop the case?” “Senator, if I thought that would happen, I would not be sitting here today.” “But let’s imagine that once again President-elect Trump issues a directive or order to you or to the F.B.I. director that is outside the boundaries of ethics or law. What will you do?” “Senator, I will never speak on a hypothetical, especially one saying that the president would do something illegal.” “Weaponization of the Justice Department may well occur under your tenure, and we want to make sure that that’s not the case, that you remain independent, that you remain able to and willing to tell the president no when that’s necessary to protect the Constitution and the integrity of the Department.” “I think that is the whole problem with the weaponization that we have seen the last four years and what’s been happening to Donald Trump. They targeted his campaign. They have launched countless investigations against him. That will not be the case. If I am attorney general, I will not politicize that office. I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. Justice will be administered even handedly throughout this country.” “Who won the 2020 presidential election?” “Joe Biden is the president of the United States.” “Ms. Bondi did you know that there is a difference between acknowledging it? And I can say that Donald Trump won the 2024 election. I may not like it, but I can say it.” “As the Florida attorney general, Ms. Bondi achieved numerous successes. She engaged in key initiatives to fight human trafficking, countered the opioid epidemic and protect consumers and protect the citizens of Florida from violence.” “Will you do everything within your power as attorney general to enforce the laws on the books, including the president’s executive orders, and help do everything you can in the Department of Justice to restore security to our southern border?” “Yes, senator. Absolutely.”
President Biden is ending his tenure in the White House on a “sad” note after “lying to the nation” and taking credit for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas during his farewell address on Wednesday evening, a Trump transition official said.
“Joe Biden is going out sad. Lying to the nation trying to take credit for a deal that all parties credit President Trump for making happen. Biden has had well over a year to secure the release of these hostages and peace. He failed. Trump succeeded,” a Trump transition official told Fox News Digital on Wednesday evening.
War has raged in the Middle East since October of 2023, with Israel and Hamas coming to a ceasefire agreement on Wednesday that also ensured the release of hostages.
Biden delivered his final address to the nation on Wednesday evening, where he took a victory lap for the cease fire in his opening remarks.
BIDEN TAKES SOLE CREDIT FOR ISRAEL-HAMAS DEAL, WARNS OF ‘OLIGARCHY’ THREATENING DEMOCRACY IN FAREWELL SPEECH
Left: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the latest developments in Syria from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Dec. 8, 2024 in Washington, D.C.; Right: President-Elect Donald Trump reacts during his meeting with Prince William, Prince of Wales at the Embassy of the United Kingdom’s Residence on December 7, 2024 in Paris, France. (Left: Pete Marovich/Getty Images; Right: Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
“My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from the Oval Office. Before I begin, let me speak to important news from earlier today. After eight months of nonstop negotiation, my administration – by my administration – a cease-fire and hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas. The elements of which I laid out in great detail in May of this year,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House as he gives his farewell address Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)
“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that’s how it should be, working together as Americans,” he continued.
PRESIDENT BIDEN RELEASES FAREWELL LETTER, SAYS IT’S BEEN ‘PRIVILEGE OF MY LIFE TO SERVE THIS NATION’
Former US President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) as they pose for a photo during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago estate, in Palm Beach, Florida, United States on July 26, 2024. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Credit for reaching the agreement, however, was bolstered by the incoming Trump administration, according to sources who told Fox Digital that a recent meeting between Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly played a pivotal role in the deal.
FOX NEWS GETS AN INSIDE LOOK AT IDF’S WAR AGAINST HAMAS
Netanyahu also thanked Trump on Wednesday for “his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages.”
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening with US President-elect Donald Trump and thanked him for his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages and for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families,” the official Prime Minister of Israel X account posted.
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, October 1, 2024. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
“The Prime Minister made it clear that he is committed to returning all of the hostages however he can, and commended the US President-elect for his remarks that the US would work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a haven for terrorism.”
The X account added later: “Prime Minister Netanyahu then spoke with US President Joe Biden and thanked him as well for his assistance in advancing the hostages deal.”
ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE, HOSTAGE RELEASE DEAL REACHED: ‘AMERICANS WILL BE PART OF THAT’
When asked who the history books would remember for championing the ceasefire deal earlier Wednesday, Biden balked at the suggestion Trump and his team spearheaded the effort.
“Who in the history books gets credit for this, Mr. President, you or Trump?” Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich asked Biden at Wednesday afternoon’s White House news conference.
“Is that a joke?” the president responded.
“Oh. Thank you,” Biden responded when Heinrich said it was not a joke, and then walked away.
WASHINGTON — Once a bitter critic of President-elect Donald Trump, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida headed into his first Senate hearing Wednesday as nominee for secretary of State.
Rubio, with extensive experience on Capitol Hill and in foreign policy circles, appears to be the least controversial in Trump’s list of Cabinet picks, many of whom lack the credentials or background usually associated with their nominated jobs.
A foreign policy hawk — especially on China — Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, seemed likely to win easy bipartisan approval. On Wednesday, he faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on which he has served for 14 years.
If confirmed as expected, Rubio will be the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat.
In the past, Rubio largely hewed to long-standing Republican views on a multi-lateral approach to the world, embracing allies and united action. On Wednesday, he echoed Trump’s “America first” philosophy.
His State Department, Rubio testified, will be guided by a singular objective “to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home.”
“Placing our core national interests above all else is not isolationism,” Rubio said. “The postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us.”
China, he said, is the “most potent” enemy the United States has ever faced, its “near peer” on many fronts, including technology, economy and diplomatic muscle.
“We’ve allowed them to get away with things …. and now we are dealing with the ramifications of that,” he said, advocating the U.S. must fortify its own industrial and supply chain capabilities to prevent “total dependence … from our security to our health” on the communist-led nation.
Rubio, who recently voted against an aid package for Ukraine, echoed Trump in saying Kyiv’s war with Russia had to come to an end. “There will have to be concessions made” by both Russia and Ukraine, he said. Many observers worry that Trump’s affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin will lead to him demanding more sacrifice from Ukraine in any peace negotiation.
The hearing was interrupted by protesters; Rubio quipped that at least he gets bilingual demonstrators.
But overall, the mood among the senators was friendly and lacked the confrontations of the previous day’s hearing of Fox TV commentator Pete Hegseth, whom Trump has nominated to be secretary of Defense. Senators questioned Hegseth about his experience, drinking, position on women in combat roles and allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied.
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