My, you got awful defensive at having your talking points challenged by other people’s real world experiences.
I am a welder, I was in those cities for work as a customer needed my company to make an on-site modification to our product. So, no, it wasn’t the ritzy areas, nor was it a slum.
I live in the upper mid-west in a small city, the area has a total population of about 20k. Here Republicans outnumber Democrats by almost a 3-1 margin. This is straight up redneck Trumpian Republican territory.
There are still people driving pickups with full sized Trump/Pence flags from all four corners of the truck bed around here. I have had co-workers that actually do use those racist terms that are banned by Blizzard.
The local ordinance calls for the removal of all political campaign signs within seven days after the election, people still have Trump/Pence signs in their yards and on the sides of their homes. (Rules and laws don’t apply to Republicans apparently.)
There hasn’t been an elected Democrat in this area in decades.
Yet, a few years ago the CEO of the area’s biggest employer said during a quarterly business update meeting “We are hiring anyone who can stand up, see lightening, and hear thunder, but we can’t find people that can pass the drug test. I thought the east coast was bad.”
All the emergency personnel here had to be trained to administer and now carry Narcan.
The local homeless shelter is fighting city hall to be able to add more beds as they don’t have the capacity to meet the current demand.
A few years ago the director of the local domestic violence shelter was killed by her ex.
There isn’t a day that goes by that the police blotter in the local paper doesn’t have a drug bust listed and responses to bar brawls and DV incidents.
You don’t get to claim that it is only Democrat controlled territory that has issues, these issues are everywhere. In fact, I would say that it is worse per capita in Republican controlled areas like here.
Call me a liar all you want, it doesn’t change the actual facts that those biased talking points are biased talking points and not the reality of the majority of the areas in question.