Journalist Tries to Dunk on Trump for ‘Bizarre’ Farming Comments – Proves How Out of Touch He Is

Vox journalist Aaron Rupar tried to dunk on President Donald Trump for remarks he made Tuesday about the agriculture industry – but ended up exposing his own lack of knowledge. 

Addressing a crowd at a GOP fundraising even in Iowa, Trump at one point spoke about his administration’s efforts to bring internet to rural communities.

“We secured nearly $1.2 billion to expand rural broadband, which you need very badly. You need very badly,” Trump said. “They have not treated the West well with broadband, with anything having to do with the word ‘computer.’ I look at some of those tractors and they don’t even hook up.”

Commenting on Twitter, Rupar seemed to suggest that Fox Business, which aired Trump’s speech live, had cut away from the feed because Trump’s remarks were so embarrassing.

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“Beyond parody — Fox Business cuts away from Trump’s speech right after he laments, bizarrely, that tractors can’t hook up to the internet,” tweeted Rupar, an associate editor at Vox.

Aaron Rupar inflames the urban-rural divide

Rupa was swiftly fact-checked by farmers and conservatives. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, accused him of being out of touch with non-coastal Americans.

“This might be news to folks in New York or D.C., but in Iowa we know internet-connected farm equipment is critical for precision agriculture. And it’s one of the reasons I’m working to improve rural broadband speed and access,” Ernst tweeted in response to Rupar.

This might be news to folks in New York or D.C., but in Iowa we know internet-connected farm equipment is critical for precision agriculture. And it’s one of the reasons I’m working to improve rural broadband speed and access. https://t.co/iQPt2uWoHB

— Joni Ernst (@joniernst) June 12, 2019

“It sounds funny, but yeah, modern farming equipment has the ability to interface with other equipment in the internet. The same as any other industry or even the thing you’re looking at it your hand. It’s a $1 TRILLION industry. Of course they use technology,” actor Kevin Williams said.

Conservatives have long accused the media of being biased by its overrepresentation in urban centers such as Washington, D.C. and New York. Meanwhile, experts and commentators have noted the urban-rural divide playing an increasingly central role in U.S. and global politics.

After the 2016 election, numerous think pieces acknowledged the “liberal media bubble” as a reason why so many pundits and city-dwellers were stunned by Trump’s victory.

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