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Trump Voters in Coal Country Are Becoming Bernie Bros

A new documentary shows Sanders flipping voters in deep Trump country.

Bernie Sanders came, saw, and conquered Trump country.

In a new documentary from the nonprofit newsroom More Perfect Union, the progressive senator journeyed through Trump strongholds across deep-red West Virginia—leaving a trail of Bernie bros behind him.

The video has racked up more than 3.4 million views as of Thursday evening.

One scene in the documentary depicts a diner in the southern coalfields of West Virginia, where several Mingo County Trump voters found themselves unexpectedly taken with the 84-year-old senator.

“You’re so reasonable, they’ve painted you in a bad light,” one woman told Sanders. “It actually makes me very angry because…you see things and you believe it.”

“I would have been nervous with a lot of different, like celebrities or politicians, but you just seem so normal,” the same woman, who did not identify herself, added. “You’re obviously just like a normal human.”

Sanders, an independent, has emerged as a leading voice in the anti-MAGA movement and for those frustrated with the Democratic Party, with his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour drawing record crowd numbers across the country.

Sanders has a preexisting connection to West Virginia, too. In 2016, he defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary with 51.4 percent of the vote—a sign even then of his support among the working class.

That same year, however, West Virginia decisively swung to the right and voted Trump into the Oval Office.

Much of Trump’s support in the state stemmed from his pledge to bring jobs back to Appalachia—a promise voters told Sanders they’re yet to see be fulfilled.

“I agree with some things of Trump, but most I do not right now,” one woman admitted. “People are not surviving.”

Others in the group, made up of about seven people, also cited the economy and poverty as their main frustrations with Trump.

“If I say that I think the United States should do what every other major country on Earth does and guarantee health care to all people as a human right, are you gonna think I’m a Communist and a terrible person?” Sanders asked the group.

“If people listen—if you talk the way you did... you’re so reasonable,” the woman replied.

That same woman went on to attend three of Sanders’ rallies after their conversation—joined by several others from their diner date.

“The first night was just like... real eye-opening for me,” she said. “It was like a whole shift of my whole belief system.”

Holding up a Sanders t-shirt that read “Fight Oligarchy,” she added: “I didn’t expect to walk out of here with a shirt.”

Other reports have shed light on West Virginia voters’ disillusionment with Trump, regretting their votes after DOGE cuts cost them their jobs and Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill’s cuts to Medicaid.

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Laura EspositoBreaking News Reporter

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