"Losing faith in Trump": Anywhere but Washington stops in West Virginia
Oliver Laughland finds gas prices and a proposed data center testing loyalty in Mingo County, without finding a Republican stronghold ready to switch sides.
The Guardian
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 389,438 views a day, 80 times a normal first day on this channel (4,886).
Why one of the US's reddest counties is losing faith in Trump | Anywhere but Washington
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- 0:00Voters at a gas station describe rising fuel costs, and one says they may skip voting entirely.
- 1:37At a Summers County Republican barbecue, attendees voice regret alongside continued support for Trump.
- 2:50A turbine-powered data center planned for Mingo County, and the backlash over pollution and House Bill 2014.
- 3:44Delegate Jordan Maynor argues the project is a generational economic opportunity for the state.
- 8:12Democratic candidate Tara "Baby T" Sexton describes campaigning after a car wreck without health insurance.
- 10:35Residents from both parties meet to organize against the data center; Alabama is teased as the next stop.
"I'm thinking about not even voting," a driver tells Oliver Laughland at a gas pump in southern West Virginia. The rest of the Guardian's latest Anywhere but Washington report, filmed with Tom Silverstone ahead of the midterms, tries to work out what that kind of shrug means in some of the reddest country in America.
The film passed roughly 350,000 views in its first 18 hours, far beyond what the channel's videos usually draw on day one. The comment section moved even faster: more than a thousand comments, where a typical first day brings a few dozen. Much of the conversation turns on one question: does frustration with Trump ever turn into a different vote?
The report does not claim it does. At a Summers County Republican barbecue, one attendee says of their vote, "I think we were dumb to do it," while another adds, "No, I'm not a Democrat, but I got a little bit of common sense." The doubts are real, but party loyalty is still there beside them.
The sharper story is local. In Mingo County, a proposed data center campus powered by turbines has residents worried about pollution. Republican delegate Jordan Maynor calls it "a once-in-a-multi-generational opportunity" and suggests China has reason to undermine such projects. Janet Gibson, who runs a community food bank, drives Laughland to the site. "I mean, evidently, we don't matter down here," she says.
Tara "Baby T" Sexton, a Democrat running for the House of Delegates, describes campaigning while recovering from a serious car wreck without health insurance. The film ends at a pavilion where neighbors from both parties, plus an independent candidate, are organizing against the facility.
The series is the American cousin of the Guardian's British Anywhere but Westminster, which returned to UK politics the week before. Its next stop is Alabama.
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- Channel
- The Guardian
- Subscribers
- 2,640,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,132,851
- Channel views, pace per day
- 245,732 (on a normal day: 200,604)
- Video published
- October 15, 2026
- Video views so far
- 348,089 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 389,438
The numbers
The opening day stands far apart from the channel's usual start for a new video, and its comment count stands out even more.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which British Guardian video series is the sister of Anywhere but Washington?
John Harris and John Domokos make Anywhere but Westminster, the Guardian's long-running road trip through British politics.