President Donald Trump is lashing out at Democratic-led states, claiming they are falling apart and are “the ghettos of the future.” But critics say he’s looking in the wrong direction.
Trump’s epic feuds with Democratic governors, including California’s Gavin Newsom and Illinois’ JB Pritzker, are well-known.
In a social media post Tuesday, Trump predicted blue states will become future “Ghettos” as “rich people” flee.
“Rich people and Companies are pouring out of Dumocrat run Blue States at levels never seen before!” the president crowed.
“If this trend continues, these States will become the ‘Ghettos’ of the Future — No people, no money, no hope,” he added.
Social media erupted, criticizing Trump over his spelling errors and his priorities.
“I thought dumb was spelled with a B… The real ghetto is the white house,” a commenter noted on X.
“The whole country will become the ghetto of the future with him in office. He needs to stop posting bullsh-t and concentrate on the war he’s currently losing,” this poster proclaimed.
Trump bashed Democrats above a repost of a story from JusttheNews.com about how businesses are now leaving Illinois in similar fashion to California over high taxes.
The report described both states as having a “business-repellent formula” when it comes to taxes and pointed out True Value Hardware is leaving Chicago for Fort Wayne, Indiana, similar to a recent announcement from the Chicago Bears.
“True Value joins the ranks of other longtime Illinois companies like Boeing, Tyson Foods, Morton Salt and Caterpillar, the latter of which pointedly cautioned that the state’s inability to balance the budget and lower taxes would drive out businesses,” Just the News reported.
Critics point out that tax rates are very different from quality-of-life issues, and while both matter, the CNBC ranking shows there are other factors that contribute to a good life.
Opponents also say Trump most likely amped up the Just the News story about businesses leaving Illinois because of his ongoing feud with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Social media erupted, weighing in on the debate and offering up a variety of opinions about both Trump and the CNBC Worst States study.
But this post may have summed it up best. X user TPBlue wrote, “He’s so stupid it hurts” above a cartoon drawing of a bald, White man driving a red pick-up truck and flying both a Confederate and Trump 2024 flag.
Trump’s opponents responded by pointing out he’s looking in the wrong direction and highlighting an annual ranking of the best American states for business, which this year included a rating of the worst states to live in.
In CNBC’s annual Top States for Business study published July 11, the outlet measures quality of life as one of the 10 categories that make up the final ranking, along with crime rates, environmental quality, healthcare access, civil rights laws and worker protections, to name a few.
Republican-led states scored in the top 10 worst states to live in, and they all voted for Trump in 2024.
The worst states in order from Nos. 1 through 10 are: Tennessee, Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, Georgia, Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
The list sparked a fierce political debate with the argument growing in intensity as Republican governors and conservatives angrily pushed back against the rankings, Newsweek reported. They argued many of these states on the list have strong economies, high business rankings, and growing populations.
