American Voices: Indianapolis factory workers on Trump's job promises

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent

In the fourth and final in our series of short films, ITV News asks Americans how they are feeling ahead of the US presidential election.

We hear from two factory workers with very different experiences of President Trump's promise of "America First" for jobs in the US. Is the economy stronger after four years of a Trump administration? Will Biden or Trump be better for the next four years?


Two factory workers, Shannon Mulcahy and Paul Roell from Indianapolis, sit in opposition on the question of whether President Donald Trump has protected American jobs, as he promised, over the past four years.

'Save our jobs, be a man of your word'

Shannon Mulcahy was a Trump follower in the 2016 election, a firm believer in his pledge to "stop jobs from going to Mexico" and prioritise an "America First" mentality.

But she says he's failed.

"Donald Trump, for me I mean - he's a liar," she says.

A mother of three, Ms Mulcahy had worked at the Rexnord manufacturing plant in Indianapolis plant for 18 years before her job - along with 300 others - were lost when the company moved operations to Mexico.

The impact for her has been seismic.

"Oh, I'm depressed. Losing my job contributed to my health issues and mental issues," she says.

"I was mad, hurt, I didn't even know what to think. How can they just throw you away like a piece of trash like that?"

She had secured another job, but now that too has been lost to the Covid pandemic.

Her message to Mr Trump?

"If you get back in office. Do what you said you were going to do. Save our jobs. Be a man of your word."


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'President Trump saved my job'

For Paul Roell, Donald Trump delivered above and beyond his pledge to keep jobs in America - he says the president fought to keep his job in the country.

An employee of the Carrier air conditioning plant in Indianapolis for 17 years, Mr Roell feared for his family and their future after the firm announced it was moving operations to Mexico at a cost of 700 jobs.

Mr Roell says the president stuck to his word.

At the time, Trump claimed his intervention to stop the closure as his first big win.

Speaking against a backdrop of the company's branding at the time, Mr Trump warned: "Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences."

For Mr Roell, keeping his job was a lifeline: "I no longer felt like there was this grey cloud hanging over me.

"There were no more stresses and worries about what we were going to do to provide for the family."

The factory worker says "nobody's perfect, everybody tells a lie" and admitted of president Trump: "I'm sure some of the stuff he says is a lie, he does exaggerate a lot.

"But I still trust that he's going to do what's best for America."