There are three counties from Nebraska that feature in the top ten for Trump votes.
In Grant County’s only restaurant (open Wednesday to Saturday and incidentally owned by TeJay Fenster), Heather Penner, 60, says she reckons she can identify all 15 Democrat voters and starts reeling off names. “Everybody knows everybody in this town and they know what they do and if they don’t, they make it up,” says Mrs Penner, who works in the local bar, lumber yard and a gun store 30 miles away
Brian Brennemann, a local rancher and Republican county commissioner, says: “Who are they [the 15 Democrats]? I want to kick their ass.” He is only half joking.
A local sheriff in a neighbouring county says: “We’ve got our own nutters too.” He means Democrats.
In a way, Grant County is a microcosm for all that happened back in November. Lots of rural counties across the US – including in the swing states – turned out for Mr Trump in numbers large enough to easily win him both the electoral college and the popular vote. In 2016, Trump won 90.6 per cent of the vote in Grant County and his popularity has gone up each time since.
Next week, all eyes in this county will be on Mr Trump’s inauguration and crucially, what comes next. Expectations are sky high.
‘Trump has to deliver now’
Mr Trump has promised big and Grant County – the most loyal of them all – expects him to deliver. In a community that has to be self-reliant because of its remoteness (the nearest doctor is 70 miles away), Mr Trump’s isolationist vision for an America that must rid itself of central government dependency truly appeals.
Mr Fenster, 32, a Nebraska state rodeo champion for the past two years, is confident that Trump 2.0 will succeed. “I believe things will improve big time,” he says.
He understands why the county is so fervently behind the president-elect. “Like I said, Grant County is a no BS [bull—] place. It’s the way people are here. We do what we say we will do. You take a man’s wages and you do it to the best of your ability. Until this year, politics had had little impact on me. People were disgruntled over the 2020 election but this year was the big one. Trump just has to deliver now. I think he can.”
