HUNTINGTON — On the eve of the president’s visit to Huntington, his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was in town touring area small businesses and campaigning for West Virginia 3rd District candidate Carol Miller.
Trump toured Dutch Miller Chevrolet, owned and operated by Miller’s family, JF Fletcher Mining Equipment, and finished with lunch at Fuel Counter at The Market. The goal was to learn about how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is affecting small businesses in the Mountain State.
With the tax cuts to the local business, Ron Duncan, president of JF Fletcher, said his company, which makes mine safety equipment sold around the world, has been able to increase its number of full-time employees by 20 percent and part-time employees by about as much with the chance they will be hired on full time.
“[The future] is definitely much brighter with a Trump presidency,” Duncan said. “They have certainly turned the tide from what we had to deal with in the previous eight years, and hopefully we can keep it going in the future.”
Duncan said Trump’s visit was a testament to how hard his employees work.
“What I’m taking away from today is the impact that the president has really had on this area of the country,” Trump said. “You hear about it, but when you are here you really feel it. Even at Carol’s family business, they are looking for people to fill these positions, and it’s because they have so much business. It’s a great problem to have.”
Trump said it’s been astounding to see the growth in places that have been previously “left behind.”
Miller, who has been endorsed by the president and had second lady Karen Pence in town to stump for her last week, said it’s exciting to have that support. She said President Donald Trump has his eye on West Virginia, as evidenced by his seven, soon to be eight, visits to the Mountain State since taking office.
“He is making good policy that will help our economy grow,” Miller said. “We’ve already seen the paychecks getting larger. We’ve seen more people getting employed, and the focus on the coal industry has been wonderful — it directly affects JF Fletcher. I toured in Logan, and there were so many just barely hanging on and now they are producing and they are employing. A good job solves a lot of problems.”
Not everyone in the country is feeling the benefits of the tax cuts, however, due to tariffs the Trump administration has enacted on countries like China. To those feeling negative effects from those tariffs, Lara Trump said to be patient.
“I have in my family, directly, farmers, but I think they understand, as well as so many of the businesses that have been impacted understand, that this is for the long term and they have to look at the bigger picture for the country,” she said. “The reality is this is a president that wants what’s fair and what’s right, and he’s fighting for that and negotiating for that. In the long term, they are going to feel so many positive effects.”
Lara Trump said if West Virginians like what they see from Trump, they need to vote for Miller.
“We have the perfect opportunity to make our state shine, and I’m excited to be a part of that,” Miller said.
As the president lands in Huntington on Friday, Miller’s opponent, Richard Ojeda, will lead his own tour of town with Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass. Miller’s campaign criticized Ojeda for bringing a “liberal, anti-Trump” congressman to town the same day as the president.