Steel Mill Gets Presidential Visit With Yet Another Dishonest Press Tirade
Politics aside, President Donald Trump stirred excitement among the ranks of U.S. Steel employees and outside with his visit to the plant on July 26.
Rep. Rodney Davis told the media at the gathering on July 26 that he is a lot more optimistic for the economy with some recent changes for steel workers and for farmers, too. Davis said he is especially excited that some 800 jobs have been started again at U.S. Steel. “It is very important to be here and when I look around and I am surrounded by steelworkers, I think back that this place was decimated and now our steel industry members are back to work. The economy now is the best I have seen in my lifetime.”
President Trump told to the U.S. Steel workers that having plenty of steel and aluminum are corner stones to keeping this country safe and the economy steady. There were Trump protestors outside the steel venue, but as a whole, the mood was very positive this past Thursday in Granite City after some difficult times in recent years. President Trump stressed during the gathering that it is best to buy American and hire American. “Those are two very important rules, he said of his philosophy and that inspired a large crowd response.
“One thing I can tell you is this president and this administration loves steel workers,” he said. “Three years ago, the flood of subsidized important and the flood of unfair trade targeted our steel industries and that caught up with our steel. The two beautiful blast furnaces here were idle and the lifeblood of this community was drained. During the last two decades, two third of steel mills vanished. We need still mills for our national security. More than 70,000 hard-working Americans lost their job, hope and way of life. This is the time to straighten out the worst trade deals ever made.
Four months ago, I said I was placing a 10 percent tariff on foreign aluminum and 25 percent tariff on steel. U.S. Steel immediately announced it was starting production again and bringing back more than 500 jobs.”
For U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, the reopening U.S. Steel is personal, and he says he can actually see Granite City Works from his house in Collinsville. “Most all of us who call Madison County home have had a friend, a neighbor, or a relative and my late grandfather worked there who earned a good living because of that steel plant,” he said. “It’s undeniable that the president's trade policies have brought hundreds of steel jobs back to Illinois, and I’m happy for the workers, their families, and our community. “I’m proud to represent some of those steelworkers, just as I’m also proud to represent thousands of corn, bean, and pork producers across 33 counties in central and southern Illinois. I appreciate the president’s commitment to helping my farmers, as he’s already helped my steelworkers, by fighting back against countries, like China in particular, who engage in unfair trade practices. Here's the bottom line: The sooner we negotiate better trade deals, the better off all my constituents will be.”
President Trump kept on his tirade at the media, pointing fingers at the press and being relentless during his presentation of how he is misrepresented in print and television.
Trump reemphasized his word for what the press does: “fake news” during his speech. Members of the press seemed dazed that President Trump would continue his tirade toward them, because most were not in the national media, but from the St. Louis area. Annie Frey, the Fox 97.1 radio host, was discussing how excited she was to be attending her first ever ever event like this. A longtime media person warned her that that the President at some point would start in on how dishonest the media is and just how dangerous that is for a great number of reasons. As the event progressed, Ms. Frey looked on and said nothing when the President launched into his attack on the press.
