Donald Trump made a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, PA last night, where he promised supporters that as president, he’d restore the steel and coal industries to previous days of glory. Although the city has moved away from its legacy industries, the GOP frontrunner harkened back to a time when “wage earners could support their family on the income from the mill.”
“When I’m president, guess what, steel is coming back to Pittsburgh,” Trump promised. “Steel, we’re bringing it back. Coal, clean coal, clean coal, we’re bringing it back.”
After a decades long recovery from the collapse of the steel industry, Pittsburgh has rebranded itself to appeal to the technology sector. The city is a leader in the emerging robotics industry, while steel is no longer a major employer.
Trump’s campaign plans to stop in West Virginia, a state he has praised for “what they’ve done to the coal mines…what they’ve done to the energy world… it’s incredible.”