
Robeson County, North Carolina, is America’s most racially diverse rural county, with a population that is approximately one-third Native American, one-third black and one-third white. It is also North Carolina’s poorest county, and Donald Trump’s promises to renegotiate trade deals and revitalize areas hit hard by the decline of manufacturing resonated with residents here who have struggled to find work in the wake of the closing of several textile and manufacturing plants. By promising to stand up for these workers, Trump was able to seize the mantle of hope and change from President Obama. Four years after Obama won the county by 18 percentage points, Trump won in by 5.