ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) 鈥� She had worked 22 days straight in her job as a technician at an engine plant to save up, and now Daijah Bryant could finally do what she was putting off: Christmas shopping.
Bryant pushed her cart out of a Walmart in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and loaded her sedan’s backseat with bags of gifts. While they would soon bring joy to her friends and family, it was difficult for the 26-year-old to feel good about the purchases.
鈥淗aving to pay bills, if you happen to pay rent and try to do Christmas all at the same time, it is very, very hard,鈥� she said with exasperation.
Ahead of Friday evening visit to Rocky Mount, some residents said they were feeling an that seems hard to escape. The uneasy feeling spans political affiliation in the town, which is split between two largely rural and somewhat impoverished counties, although some were more hopeful than others that there are signs of reprieve on the horizon.
It was Trump’s second event this month aimed at championing ahead of a next year, both held in presidential battleground states. Similar to Trump’s earlier Rocky Mount sits in a U.S. House district that has been historically competitive. But earlier this year, the Republican-controlled legislature redrew the boundaries for to favor their party as part of Trump’s push to have GOP-led states gerrymander their congressional districts to help his party retain its House majority for the last half of his term.
Rocky Mount may be in a politically advantageous location, but the hardships its residents report mirror the tightening financial strains many Americans say they are feeling, with high prices for groceries, housing and utilities among their top concerns. Polls show persistently high prices have put Americans in a grumpy mood about the state of the economy, which a large majority say is .
Trump has and the country will see some relief in the new year and beyond. In some cases, he has dismissed affordability concerns and encouraged Americans to .
In his Friday night speech, he leaned into a persistent refrain: Democratic President Joe Biden alone was to blame for any economic distress Americans may be feeling, but things are getting better under his watch.
He boasted that steps he’s taken鈥攊ncluding generating billions of dollars of revenue through tariffs, pressing pharmaceutical giants to slash the prices of some medicines, and that is being paid through a provision in a tax cut extensions and expansions bill he signed into law in July鈥攚ill have real impact on American’s pocketbooks.
鈥淚 inherited the mess. I got the prices down and they are going down still further,鈥� Trump said. He added, 鈥淥ver the past 11 months, we have brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in the history of our country.鈥�
鈥榃ithout the businesses, it鈥檚 dead’
Crimson smokestacks tower over parts of downtown Rocky Mount, reminding the town’s roughly 54,000 residents of its roots as a once-booming tobacco market. Through the heart of downtown, graffiti-covered trains still lug along on the railroad tracks that made Rocky Mount a bustling locomotive hotspot in the last century.
Those days seem long gone for some residents who have watched the town change over the decades. Rocky Mount has adapted by tapping into other industries such as manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals, but it’s also had to endure its fair share of challenges. Most recently, financial troubles in the city’s government have meant higher utility prices for residents.
The city has been investing to try to revitalize its downtown, but progress has been slow. Long stretches of empty storefronts that once contained restaurants, furniture shops and drug stores line the streets. Most stores were closed Thursday morning, and not much foot traffic roamed the area.
That’s left Lucy Slep, who co-owns The Miner’s Emporium jewelry store with her husband, waiting for Trump’s promised 鈥淕olden Age of America.鈥�
The jewelry store has been in downtown Rocky Mount for nearly four decades, just about as long as the 64-year-old said she has lived in the area. But the deterioration of downtown Rocky Mount has spanned at least a decade, and Slep said she’s still hoping it will come back to life.
鈥淓very downtown in every little town is beautiful,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut without the businesses, it’s dead.鈥�
Slep’s store hasn’t escaped the challenges other Rocky Mount small businesses have endured. Instead of buying, more people have recently been selling their jewelry to the shop, Slep said.
Customers have been scarce. About a week out from Christmas, the store 鈥� with handmade molded walls and ceilings resembling cave walls 鈥� sat empty aside from the rows of glass cases containing jewelry. It’s been hard, Slep said, but she and her husband are trying to make it through.
鈥淭his year is just not a jewelry Christmas, for whatever reason,鈥� she said.
Better times on the horizon 鈥� depending on whom you ask
Slep is already looking ahead to next year for better times. She is confident that Trump’s economic policies 鈥� including 鈥� will make a marked difference in people’s cost of living. In her eyes, the financial strains people are feeling are residual effects from the Biden administration that eventually will fade.
Optimism about what’s to come under Trump’s economy might also depend on whether residents feel their economic conditions have changed drastically in the past year. Shiva Mrain, an engineer in Rocky Mount, said his family’s situation has not 鈥渂ecome worse nor better.鈥� He’s been encouraged by seeing lower gas prices.
Bryant, the engine technician, feels a bit more disillusioned.
She didn’t vote in the last election because she didn’t think either party could enact changes that would improve her life. Nearly a year into the Trump administration, Bryant is still waiting to see whether the president will deliver.
鈥淚 can’t really say … that change is coming,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don’t think anything is going to change.鈥�
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