Nearly 1,400 Laid Off at Ohio Truck Plant Days Before Trump Rally

Nearly 1,400 workers were laid off Wednesday from the former Navistar truck factory in Springfield, Ohio, eliminating roughly a year of job gains in the greater Dayton area. The cuts come three days before President Donald Trump holds a Saturday rally at a nearby high school.

Kyle Bos, 30, a United Auto Workers member and self-described centrist who voted for Trump three times, said he will now canvass for Democrats. Bos, expecting a third child in January, cited rising grocery costs and frustration with the president.

“Something has to change politically in this country. Seems like it just kept getting worse and worse and worse.”

Dayton has lost about half of its 90,000 factory jobs since 1990 after NAFTA and trade with China shifted auto-parts production overseas. Trump's 2016 appeal rested on his business celebrity and blunt talk, but voters now express discontent over inflation and the war in Iran.

The Ohio Senate race could decide chamber control. Republican Sen. Jon Husted faces a challenge from former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is seeking a comeback two years after losing his seat. Trump calls his swing-state tour a 32-day marathon to convince voters the economy is stronger than they feel.