Why the frustrated Amish turned out for Trump in Pennsylvania
By
Brady Knox
November 10, 2024 9:00 am
.
The Amish might have gotten with the times and tried to play a role in President-elect Donald Trump’s crushing 2024 victory because of a government raid on a farm earlier this year.
Trump’s victory was secured when he won the largest swing state’s 19 electoral votes after losing it in 2020. According to former Trump adviser Jan Halper-Hayes, conservative activist Scott Pressley registered 180,000 new Amish voters, though this is certainly an overestimate as Pennsylvania’s Amish population is around 92,000, according to the Young Center’s research.
The voter registration drive was the first among the Amish in Pennsylvania history. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who ran much of Trump’s ground game, the Amish hadn’t previously been mobilized “in significant numbers.”
The reason for their sudden switch was a case of “government overreach.”
“The Democrats did make a mistake because there was government overreach with some of the Amish farmers,” Musk said in an interview with Tucker Carlson. “They’re farmers. They’ve been farming the same way for a long time.”
“And there was some … government overreach that shut down some Amish farmers, which really made them pretty upset,” he continued. “And you just need to be able to channel that, the fact that they’re upset, like, well, there’s a thing you can do about it, which is called voting, and we’re happy to transport.”
The conservative Christian community, which eschews modern technology, settled in Pennsylvania in the 18th century after William Penn offered them refuge from persecution and conscription in Europe. The community has boomed over the years, with many of the 400,000 residing in Pennsylvania.
more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/3223711/why-amish-might-have-turned-out-trump-pennsylvania/
