In the Heart of Trump Country, Some Ranchers Feel Left Behind

The Takeaway | Mar 21, 2017

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview. 

Devastating wildfires ripped across the grasslands in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma earlier this month, and ranchers were among those hardest hit. Some families lost 80 percent of their livestock herds, along with hundreds of miles of fences and land. Seven people have died, several trying to save their cattle. 

Many of these ranchers voted for Donald Trump, and some say they wish the president was paying more attention to them in their time of need. 

Garth Gardiner runs Gardiner Angus Ranch in Ashland, Kansas with his brothers and their families. He says the day the fire started, his brother was out working on their ranch. By the time the fires burned out, he had lost 500 cows — a third of his herd.

Here, Gardiner makes an emotional appeal for help to the White House, and the president he helped elect. Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear the full interview. 

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