STRAW POWER
Did the Amish win it for Trump? How tiny sect in key swing state proved VITAL for Don’s reelection
Watch an Amish-born congressman explain why this group voted for Donald Trump in the video below
ELON Musk and Hulk Hogan visibly helped Donald Trump land his victory - but an overlooked sect proved to be the real stars in the Republicans' win.
The Amish, known for their aversion to government and elections, showed up and showed out to help Trump secure the most important swing state.
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This religious group is famous for its passion for farming, dog breeding, and commitment to a deeply conservative lifestyle but 2024 has seen it rise as a political underdog.
The reserved group has a population of around 100,000 people in Pennsylvania.
The played a quiet role in the vital swing state which has flipped from The Democrats to The Republicans by tiny margins.
Trump won this state by just over 40,000 votes in 2016 and Joe Biden took it by 80,000 votes out of seven million in 2020.
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Both parties spent most of their campaigns in this Rust Belt state but the red's triumphed by waking up this apolitical crowd.
This sect's silent power has previously been untapped as they traditionally do not vote and keep interactions with the government to a minimum.
Republican activists this year targeted the order and recruited the Amish on what meant most to them - raw milk.
A farming scandal ignited the politically quiet group to rise against the current regime.
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Local dairy farmer Amos Miller had his site raided by state officials in January for selling raw milk.
He was banned from selling unpasteurized milk - which is a custom for the Amish and has become popular among some celebrities like Gwenyth Paltrow.
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Donald Trump Jr posted on X at the time: “Imagine what law enforcement could accomplish if they went after members of elite paedophile rings rather than farmers selling to their neighbours??”
The Amish had previously fled from Europe in the 1700’s to avoid religious persecution and in 2024 they flocked to Trump to avoid regulations on their milk.
Amish-born Congressman Lloyd Smucker told Fox News the Miller case was just one example of the Amish’s pushback against officials.
Smucker, who represents the district which includes Lancaster County, where half of the state's population lives, said: “They don’t want intrusion of government at all and there are plenty of examples where they’re being required to do things that they would rather not do.”
The vote share for Donald Trump in this county has increased in the three years he has run.
The Republican jumped from over 137,00 votes in 2016 to 160,000 votes in 2020.
Trump then cemented his impact on the area when he jumped to over 164,000 votes in 2024.
Republican campaigners helped to tap into this anger by showing up on the ground and reaching this isolated sect.
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Conservative activist Scott Presler led this difficult mission and has since attributed Trump’s win to the Amish vote.
He : “Thank you to the Amish for delivering Pennsylvania for Trump and saving our country.
“We’ll never, ever forget your contribution to American history.”
At a pre-election Pennsylvania , he echoed these Amish worries about milk and religion.
Presler said: “To our beautiful Amish in Lancaster and across the state we will protect your right to raw milk, your dairy, your farming, your school choice, your religious freedom, your ability to afford to have ten beautiful children per family.”
Congressman Smucker explained that the Amish liked Trump as they believed he aligned with their beliefs on religious liberty, isolationism, border control, and the economy.
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He added: "Four years ago, we probably had about 1,500 - 2,000 new Amish registrants and new Amish voters.
"I think we are going to see thousands more this cycle. I just base that on lots of conversations that I have had with the Amish, on meetings that we’ve had.”
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Trump's win means 'high risks but higher possibilities' for Ukraine war
OLEKSIY Goncharenko, Ukrainian MP, has told Times Radio that Donald Trump in the White House means "higher risks but higher possibilities
The MP said Trump's unpredictability could work in Ukraine's favour because the president-elect "doesn't want his own Afghanistan" like Biden's withdrawal near the start of his term.
When asked if and how Trump can end the war in Ukraine in just 24 hours, as he has previously claimed, the MP said:
"Yes he can, I think, but the question is what is the price and how he sees it. I don't know.
"From a Ukrainian perspective, I think that Donald Trump is definitely higher risks, but also higher possibilities for Ukraine.
"Kamala Harris was more predictable, Donald Trump is less predictable. What he will do, and how it will end, we don't know for the moment.
"But, Donald Trump already in his victory speech said about oil, which is very important.
"If Donald Trump drops the oil price in the world, that can have a super effect more than anything else on the war in Ukraine and on the Russian regime in general. So it's just one example. I mean, the situation is not black and white.
"I think that Donald Trump, who is a super winner, especially now after such a victory, he doesn't want to be a loser.
"He doesn't want to receive his own Afghanistan like Biden received at the beginning of his term."
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