Betting on Trump: Coal | FRONTLINE

What do Trump’s economic promises to the coal industry mean to voters in West Virginia?

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Twelve thousand mining jobs have disappeared in the state over the last few years -- and 70 percent of the vote went to Trump. One former coal miner says, “I’ve been a registered Democrat all my life, but I crossed over this year. I voted for Donald Trump, because he promised to help the coal miner.”

For more, explore the full “Betting on Trump” series from FRONTLINE, Marketplace and PBS NewsHour:
Betting on Trump: Jobs (Erie, Pennsylvania) http://bit.ly/2kX2eSD
Betting on Trump: Water (California’s Central Valley) http://bit.ly/2lkJBIS

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Once you shut the coal mines

down, you're hurting the

backbone of this country.

I've been registered Democrat

all my life.

But I crossed over this year.

I voted for Donald Trump.

Because he promised to help

the coal miner.

And for this region, we need

help.

(train whistle blows)

There's good men out here just

walking the streets.

Their families are getting

desperate.

Welfare can't keep people

forever.

These men need to go back to

work.

(crowd cheering)

>> TRUMP: So I just left parts

of Virginia and West Virginia.

And the coal industry is

decimated.

The miners are out of work.

They are totally out of work.

I mean, there's, there will be

no such thing as coal in this

country pretty soon.

What we're going to do, folks,

is going to be so special.

We're going to bring back our

jobs.

We are going to win.

(chains clanking)

We are going to be America

first.

We are going to make America

great again.

(crowd chanting "U-S-A")

(crow caws)

(man singing on recording)

>> Is that loud enough?

♪ All ye who must toil

with the pick and the drill

♪ And sweat for your bread

in that hole in Oak Hill

♪ It goes down, down, down... ♪

>> I really want to be a coal

miner, always have been, ever

since I was in high school.

Everybody had their dreams about

being a basketball player,

a football player...

I always just wanted to be a

coal miner.

(indistinct voices on video)

>> (on video): After about an

hour, the teams and the command

center and everybody else, they

start to become more serious

about it and then they start

working across.

>> How do we rod this?

By hand and by machine.

>> The only thing that I've

really given thought about

is Trump getting in office and

going back to work.

My American dream would just be

to watch my kids grow up

happy and healthy.

That's the only thing I could

ever ask for.

I didn't have anything very

long, you know.

Not a whole lot anyway.

Didn't make enough.

Didn't work long enough.

They said that things went dry.

It made it really, really hard

to take care of a baby and a

wife.

>> In 2000, it was booming.

We wouldn't have a class unless

we had 15, and we had to cut

away at 25, and it stayed full.

>> Pass it around.

That's the heaviest unit, that

is the best unit.

>> And then, in the last couple

years, it slowed down to where

we actually voted several times

whether to just lock the door or

not.

But since the election, a lot of

lights have came on in mining.

>> What we call compressed

oxygen...

>> ...is that it doesn't feel

like you're breathing air, but

you are.

It's just a chemical reaction.

When I first started in mines,

this is what I had right here,

a little W65 dragline...

>> Most of them have a job

waiting on them.

Or they wouldn't be here to

spend that money.

Getting outside with nobody

hurt: now, that's what pays the

bills, and pays it the right

way.

Now, we don't want no blood on

that coat.

Nobody does.

We want you to work safe, smart.

You've got a lot more to learn,

and we will review to where

you'll be very comfortable, and

we don't have anybody fail, all

right?

Well, if that's all, we'll see

you in the morning at 8:00.

>> What year is this truck?

>> '14.

>> '14.

>> I just got it two months

before I got laid off.

>> So, you need to hurry and get

back to work.

>> I guess I basically seek it

because it's hard work.

I've always been a fan of hard

work.

It's the way I was brought up.

Family man, I guess.

What are you doing, buddy?

Callie, she's four days old.

She was just born on Friday.

Colton, he's...

he'll be two in February.

My father never was really there

to the picture, you know.

I only got to meet him twice.

I never would let my kids down.

I always told myself that.

>> Whoa!

>> Grandpa and Grandma, they

adopted me.

But they was never really able

to work.

They was already medically

disabled.

You never could really save

anything, you know?

You little traitor.

(food sizzling)

I've always liked the thrill,

adrenaline rush.

When things get a little bit

hairy, you know, I love being

in those situations.

(baby crying)

Coal mining, I don't think it's,

I don't think it's that risky.

My family's done it for

generations.

But I think it's well worth it.

You know, there's risk

in everything you take.

>> Because your response could

save a life.

>> Respirable dust is on the

test.

You can't see that with your

naked eye.

The dust you see, you'll cough

up.

It gets caught in your throat

and in your nose, and in your

mouth.

If we'll do our job, we can

eliminate black lung.

That's something you don't want

as part of your chest.

>> If I had been in my Dad's

shoes, my son would have never

went in the mines.

But my Dad wanted me to be

around him some, so I came home

to be with him.

Coal mining's a rough job.

I was very seldom off.

I worked six days a week and

sometimes seven.

I worked 16 hours a day instead

of eight.

When I first went in the mines

in 1969, the risk factor of

black lung diseases wasn't

mentioned a whole lot.

I was one of them young coal

miners, I'd never get it.

No, not me.

I mean, it'll happen to a lot

of these older miners, but not

me-- that's what I thought.

The doctor told me, he said:

"You've contacted it, now you

need to do something about it."

But buying a home, buying two

automobiles.

I had my daughter in school.

I couldn't go out and just

quit work, and go hunt a job

somewhere in another field that

you wasn't even trained for.

So, you just had to keep

working.

You had to keep going.

Until one day you realized,

"Hey, I've done went too far."

(machine humming)

(coughing)

Our new administration is

talking about repealing

Obamacare, and doing away with

Obamacare, and starting a new

one, and one of our greatest

fears now is, if you take the

provisions out for the coal

miners.

I spent four and a half years

in litigation to get my black

lung benefits started.

I wouldn't want my wife to spend

four and a half years trying to

get hers started, if something

were to happen to me.

I realize a lot of coal mines

are shut down.

They file bankruptcy.

But taking a man's benefits

shouldn't be part of that.

>> But it's okay.

You're going to be okay.

>> And everything that was

promised unto him to go to work

should be there waiting on him

when he gets ready to retire,

without any controversy.

He earned that.

When they take that away,

they're taking your livelihood

away.

I'm getting too hot.

>> Okay.

How hard are you working?

>> Four and a three.

>> Focus on your breathing.

Okay, alright.

Good job.

>> So, we've got to recondition

every muscle in our body, so

that just the simplest task,

such as vacuuming, washing the

dishes, carrying in the

groceries, doesn't really put a

strain on our system, so we've

got to strengthen all of our

muscles, not just our legs and

our breathing muscles as well,

we've got to strengthen our arms

too.

>> I thought I was ten foot tall

and bulletproof.

It didn't take long for me to

realize I wasn't.

Now, I find myself as a

69-year-old, broken-down coal

miner.

>> Out and in, out and in...

>> I think it's going to be the

one to take me out in the end.

They can say, "Well, this man

died of black lung."

Come on, baby.

Come on.

My baby, I'm proud of you,

honey.

I'm proud of you, I am.

You're my buddy.

You're my baby.

>> Easy.

You've got to be easy with

sissy.

She's new, bubby.

If it picks up and it starts

booming, that's probably all

I'll do for the rest of my life.

Until I retire anyway.

I'd love to do that.

Be a coal miner, support my

family, make good money.

You know, have something in

life.

(dog barking)

>> I cherish the days I got to

spend with my dad and work with

him.

I miss him.

I really do.

Those memories, I wouldn't want

taken away.

And if I could give any advice

to any young miner right now,

I'd say run.

Find you another occupation.

When you see a coal mine, turn

around and go the other way.

Just go, leave.