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| Road Trip to Trump’s Inauguration: In a Hurry to Get There | Road Trip to Trump’s Inauguration: In a Hurry to Get There |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Updated: 1:30 p.m. | |
| The New York Times is driving to Friday’s inauguration with supporters of President-elect Donald J. Trump. On Wednesday, we traveled with a woman from Massachusetts, the bluest state east of the Mississippi. On Thursday: a man from West Virginia, the reddest state in the East. | The New York Times is driving to Friday’s inauguration with supporters of President-elect Donald J. Trump. On Wednesday, we traveled with a woman from Massachusetts, the bluest state east of the Mississippi. On Thursday: a man from West Virginia, the reddest state in the East. |
| Mark R. Maynard owns a used-car lot in Genoa, W.Va. He used to work on the pit crew of a drag racing team. He is also a freshman state senator and was an early fan of Mr. Trump, serving as co-chairman of his West Virginia campaign team. | Mark R. Maynard owns a used-car lot in Genoa, W.Va. He used to work on the pit crew of a drag racing team. He is also a freshman state senator and was an early fan of Mr. Trump, serving as co-chairman of his West Virginia campaign team. |
| I am a national correspondent with The New York Times, and Mark has been kind enough to let me drive with him to Washington, where he will be attending Mr. Trump’s inauguration. | I am a national correspondent with The New York Times, and Mark has been kind enough to let me drive with him to Washington, where he will be attending Mr. Trump’s inauguration. |
| The Times is paying for gas. And I’ll be filing updates throughout our trip. Join us as we talk about coal, cars, immigration, “deplorables,” road food, the proper soundtrack for driving through West Virginia, and where Mr. Trump, and the country, will go from here. RICHARD FAUSSET | The Times is paying for gas. And I’ll be filing updates throughout our trip. Join us as we talk about coal, cars, immigration, “deplorables,” road food, the proper soundtrack for driving through West Virginia, and where Mr. Trump, and the country, will go from here. RICHARD FAUSSET |
| CATLETTSBURG, Ky., 8:30 a.m.: Mark is a West Virginian, but he is beginning his trip at his sister and brother-in-law’s house here in the Kentucky countryside, just over the state line. He is idling in a red 2002 Jaguar, wearing a gray suit and a pale gray tie. He is impatient, and he is ready to get to Washington. | CATLETTSBURG, Ky., 8:30 a.m.: Mark is a West Virginian, but he is beginning his trip at his sister and brother-in-law’s house here in the Kentucky countryside, just over the state line. He is idling in a red 2002 Jaguar, wearing a gray suit and a pale gray tie. He is impatient, and he is ready to get to Washington. |
| A lifelong Republican, Mark has always appreciated Mr. Trump’s blunt talk — a style he describes as “not being afraid to say what you feel and not worry so much about being politically correct.” | A lifelong Republican, Mark has always appreciated Mr. Trump’s blunt talk — a style he describes as “not being afraid to say what you feel and not worry so much about being politically correct.” |
| But Mark, who in 2014 became a politician himself when he was elected to the West Virginia State Senate, can also seem more measured than the president-elect. I ask: Do you agree that there should be a ban on Muslims entering the country? | But Mark, who in 2014 became a politician himself when he was elected to the West Virginia State Senate, can also seem more measured than the president-elect. I ask: Do you agree that there should be a ban on Muslims entering the country? |
| “Hmm,” he says. “I would agree that a serious vetting process should take place.” | “Hmm,” he says. “I would agree that a serious vetting process should take place.” |
| Do you agree with building a wall at the Mexican border? | Do you agree with building a wall at the Mexican border? |
| “Mmm,” he says. “You know, and I’m not trying to be all politically correct here, but let me think about that for a minute.” | “Mmm,” he says. “You know, and I’m not trying to be all politically correct here, but let me think about that for a minute.” |
| That’s fine. We have seven hours in the car to kill. | That’s fine. We have seven hours in the car to kill. |
| Miles driven: 0. Miles to go: 447. | Miles driven: 0. Miles to go: 447. |
| _____ | _____ |
| CATLETTSBURG, Ky., 8:35 a.m.: We take off down a narrow winding road, not really even two lanes, over and along rolling green hills and horse farms. It feels like a peaceful, unspoiled place, far from the shouting of cable news. | CATLETTSBURG, Ky., 8:35 a.m.: We take off down a narrow winding road, not really even two lanes, over and along rolling green hills and horse farms. It feels like a peaceful, unspoiled place, far from the shouting of cable news. |
| The Jaguar is tailing Mark’s brother-in-law’s white Cadillac Escalade, which is adorned with a Trump bumper sticker and one saying “1.20.17: Obama’s Last Day.” It has a Confederate battle flag on the plug of the hitch hole, a Confederate flag license plate holder and a Confederate flag-themed sticker of the South Carolina palmetto. (His brother-in-law does a lot of fishing on the Carolina coast.) | The Jaguar is tailing Mark’s brother-in-law’s white Cadillac Escalade, which is adorned with a Trump bumper sticker and one saying “1.20.17: Obama’s Last Day.” It has a Confederate battle flag on the plug of the hitch hole, a Confederate flag license plate holder and a Confederate flag-themed sticker of the South Carolina palmetto. (His brother-in-law does a lot of fishing on the Carolina coast.) |
| “Associate that flag with my sister, because I don’t have it on anything I have, except the General Lee,” Mark says. He is referring to his near-perfect replica of the 1969 Dodge Charger, adorned with a Confederate flag on the roof, that was driven by the main characters in the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard.” | “Associate that flag with my sister, because I don’t have it on anything I have, except the General Lee,” Mark says. He is referring to his near-perfect replica of the 1969 Dodge Charger, adorned with a Confederate flag on the roof, that was driven by the main characters in the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard.” |
| I imagine we will talk more about that, too. | I imagine we will talk more about that, too. |
| Miles driven: 7. Miles to go: 440. | Miles driven: 7. Miles to go: 440. |
| _____ | _____ |
| BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va., 9:10 a.m.: After a few minutes on Interstate 64, we stop at a Sheetz convenience store next to the Southern X-Posure Gentleman’s Club. We are gassing up and grabbing breakfast. There is a Walmart on the other side of the freeway, and a Chick-fil-A. We are a nation both sacred and profane, ever on the make, ever on the move. Fast cars, fast food. | BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va., 9:10 a.m.: After a few minutes on Interstate 64, we stop at a Sheetz convenience store next to the Southern X-Posure Gentleman’s Club. We are gassing up and grabbing breakfast. There is a Walmart on the other side of the freeway, and a Chick-fil-A. We are a nation both sacred and profane, ever on the make, ever on the move. Fast cars, fast food. |
| “Have you ever ordered food on a touch screen?” Mark asks. “It’s pretty cool.” But he also sees something troubling about the technology. He has heard that a certain fast-food chain might ditch employees in favor of touch screens if the minimum wage ever goes to $15 an hour. | “Have you ever ordered food on a touch screen?” Mark asks. “It’s pretty cool.” But he also sees something troubling about the technology. He has heard that a certain fast-food chain might ditch employees in favor of touch screens if the minimum wage ever goes to $15 an hour. |
| In West Virginia, the minimum wage is $8.75 an hour. Mark’s State Senate district, which covers Mercer County and parts of Wayne, Mingo and McDowell Counties, is racked with poverty, largely owing to the decline of the coal industry. Thousands of people are trying to get by on the minimum wage. | In West Virginia, the minimum wage is $8.75 an hour. Mark’s State Senate district, which covers Mercer County and parts of Wayne, Mingo and McDowell Counties, is racked with poverty, largely owing to the decline of the coal industry. Thousands of people are trying to get by on the minimum wage. |
| Mark knows it is not easy. But he also believes that’s the way it should be. | Mark knows it is not easy. But he also believes that’s the way it should be. |
| “Businesses will just increase their prices, and it really won’t get us anywhere in the long run,” he says. “I think capitalism should prevail.” | “Businesses will just increase their prices, and it really won’t get us anywhere in the long run,” he says. “I think capitalism should prevail.” |
| He builds his touch-screen breakfast: a cheeseburger and fries. His daughter, Morgan, 15, orders a slice of cheese pizza. | He builds his touch-screen breakfast: a cheeseburger and fries. His daughter, Morgan, 15, orders a slice of cheese pizza. |
| The family members riding in the Escalade come in, looking eager to tackle the open road: his brother-in-law, Daron Dean, 51, the owner of an asphalt company; Daron’s wife, Lisa, also 51, and their daughter Elizabeth, 16. | The family members riding in the Escalade come in, looking eager to tackle the open road: his brother-in-law, Daron Dean, 51, the owner of an asphalt company; Daron’s wife, Lisa, also 51, and their daughter Elizabeth, 16. |
| Back on the freeway, the lanes are roaring with cars and trucks. We are somewhere between Huntington and Charleston, the two largest cities in the state. We stream by clusters of small, modest midcentury houses, a trailer park, a car lot, and gnarled and naked trees. | Back on the freeway, the lanes are roaring with cars and trucks. We are somewhere between Huntington and Charleston, the two largest cities in the state. We stream by clusters of small, modest midcentury houses, a trailer park, a car lot, and gnarled and naked trees. |
| Miles driven: 33. Miles to go: 414. | Miles driven: 33. Miles to go: 414. |
| _____ | _____ |
| TEAYS VALLEY, W.Va., 10:20 a.m.: Mark is an amateur guitar player. His sister taught him some of the basic cowboy chords when he was 12. His tastes run to outlaw country: David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr. — “He’s my man,” Mark says of the latter. “He’s my Elvis.” | TEAYS VALLEY, W.Va., 10:20 a.m.: Mark is an amateur guitar player. His sister taught him some of the basic cowboy chords when he was 12. His tastes run to outlaw country: David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr. — “He’s my man,” Mark says of the latter. “He’s my Elvis.” |
| Unlike his brother-in-law, Mark is not much of a fishing guy, or a hunting guy, or even a football guy, though he was raised in the country. | Unlike his brother-in-law, Mark is not much of a fishing guy, or a hunting guy, or even a football guy, though he was raised in the country. |
| But he is a car guy. Big-time. He has a collection of cars, apart from the car lot — Maynard’s Auto World — including the replica General Lee; a metallic red ’94 Trans Am convertible; a gold ’71 Chevelle, which he restored at age 19; and an old Jeep CJ5 with huge tires and a racing engine. | But he is a car guy. Big-time. He has a collection of cars, apart from the car lot — Maynard’s Auto World — including the replica General Lee; a metallic red ’94 Trans Am convertible; a gold ’71 Chevelle, which he restored at age 19; and an old Jeep CJ5 with huge tires and a racing engine. |
| Those are just a few. “If you want me to keep going, I can,” he says. | Those are just a few. “If you want me to keep going, I can,” he says. |
| For years, Mark worked on the crew of a professional drag racing team. He quit after his election to the State Senate in 2014 — an underdog story not unlike Mr. Trump’s. His opponent was Harry Truman Chafin, a Democrat who had represented the district since 1982. | For years, Mark worked on the crew of a professional drag racing team. He quit after his election to the State Senate in 2014 — an underdog story not unlike Mr. Trump’s. His opponent was Harry Truman Chafin, a Democrat who had represented the district since 1982. |
| When Mark won, by just 389 votes, National Dragster, the news organ of the National Hot Rod Association, ran a story declaring his victory “the electoral equivalent of defeating an opponent on the dragstrip by thousandths of a second.” | When Mark won, by just 389 votes, National Dragster, the news organ of the National Hot Rod Association, ran a story declaring his victory “the electoral equivalent of defeating an opponent on the dragstrip by thousandths of a second.” |
| It was also another sign of how tenuous the Democrats’ position had grown in West Virginia. The year he won, Republicans gained the majority in both legislative houses for the first time since the Great Depression. | It was also another sign of how tenuous the Democrats’ position had grown in West Virginia. The year he won, Republicans gained the majority in both legislative houses for the first time since the Great Depression. |
| Miles driven: 52. Miles to go: 395. | Miles driven: 52. Miles to go: 395. |
| _____ | _____ |
| SUTTON, W.Va., 10:52 a.m.: I tell Mark about the Uber ride I took to my hotel in Huntington yesterday. A young woman picked me up from the tiny regional airport in her Honda Civic. She told me that she had worked as a nursing assistant for a while, but found it to be tiresome and dreary. She didn’t have many other prospects other than Uber, and she was thinking about getting out of West Virginia. | SUTTON, W.Va., 10:52 a.m.: I tell Mark about the Uber ride I took to my hotel in Huntington yesterday. A young woman picked me up from the tiny regional airport in her Honda Civic. She told me that she had worked as a nursing assistant for a while, but found it to be tiresome and dreary. She didn’t have many other prospects other than Uber, and she was thinking about getting out of West Virginia. |
| But first, she was adopting a friend’s baby. Her pregnant friend was white, but the baby had a black father. And the pregnant woman’s current boyfriend was a white racist, she told me. “He doesn’t want it in the house,” the driver said, referring to the baby. | But first, she was adopting a friend’s baby. Her pregnant friend was white, but the baby had a black father. And the pregnant woman’s current boyfriend was a white racist, she told me. “He doesn’t want it in the house,” the driver said, referring to the baby. |
| I ask Mark how common that kind of overt racism is in his district. “As far as expressing it, I don’t feel it’s that prevalent,” he says. “Inner thoughts, maybe a little more.” | I ask Mark how common that kind of overt racism is in his district. “As far as expressing it, I don’t feel it’s that prevalent,” he says. “Inner thoughts, maybe a little more.” |
| He says that his district has a relatively small percentage of African-Americans. He tells me that President Obama is to blame for some of the country’s racial discord. | He says that his district has a relatively small percentage of African-Americans. He tells me that President Obama is to blame for some of the country’s racial discord. |
| “I do think America saw a bit of racism through the anti-racism efforts of the president,” he says. “You know, he was trying to let everyone know that we’re all the same. And by doing that, I think he divided the nation.” | “I do think America saw a bit of racism through the anti-racism efforts of the president,” he says. “You know, he was trying to let everyone know that we’re all the same. And by doing that, I think he divided the nation.” |
| Miles driven: 130. Miles to go: 317. | Miles driven: 130. Miles to go: 317. |
| _____ | _____ |
| FLATWOODS, W.Va., 11 a.m.: We pass by a nondescript state Department of Motor Vehicles office, and Mark’s neck snaps backward in its direction. “Do you know what the state pays in rent for that? $70,000 per year.” There is another D.M.V. office, he says, in Kanawha City, W.Va., where the rent is something like $800,000. | |
| He has studied this kind of spending since taking office. He believes that if the state’s Republicans bring such things to light, the voters will give them “the blessing to cut the fat.” | He has studied this kind of spending since taking office. He believes that if the state’s Republicans bring such things to light, the voters will give them “the blessing to cut the fat.” |
| He also echoes the sentiments of Mr. Trump: Government is making bad deals. | He also echoes the sentiments of Mr. Trump: Government is making bad deals. |
| Miles driven: 140. Miles to go: 307. | Miles driven: 140. Miles to go: 307. |
| _____ | _____ |
| WESTON, W.Va., 11:25 a.m.: In the fast lane, a black Chevy Silverado pickup passes us. On a tinted back window is a three-foot-long decal of a man crawling on his knees, a light on his helmet illuminating his path. | WESTON, W.Va., 11:25 a.m.: In the fast lane, a black Chevy Silverado pickup passes us. On a tinted back window is a three-foot-long decal of a man crawling on his knees, a light on his helmet illuminating his path. |
| It is a picture of a miner. Above the crawling man the decal says: “RETIRED.” | It is a picture of a miner. Above the crawling man the decal says: “RETIRED.” |
| Miles driven: 171. Miles to go: 276. | Miles driven: 171. Miles to go: 276. |
| _____ | _____ |
| WESTON, W.Va., 11:28 a.m.: Mark wants to leave the Jaguar here. He is going skiing with some buddies after the inauguration at a resort nearby. Better to leave the Jag. His sister will drive us to Washington and drive him back out this way. | WESTON, W.Va., 11:28 a.m.: Mark wants to leave the Jaguar here. He is going skiing with some buddies after the inauguration at a resort nearby. Better to leave the Jag. His sister will drive us to Washington and drive him back out this way. |
| We pull into a strip mall that wears its American multiculturalism casually. A place called Don Patron Mexican Grill. A place called Gino’s Pizza & Spaghetti. A place called Peking Buffet. A Subway sandwich shop. | We pull into a strip mall that wears its American multiculturalism casually. A place called Don Patron Mexican Grill. A place called Gino’s Pizza & Spaghetti. A place called Peking Buffet. A Subway sandwich shop. |
| Miles driven: 174. Miles to go: 273. | Miles driven: 174. Miles to go: 273. |
| _____ | _____ |
| WHITEHALL, W.Va., 1 p.m.: Lunch is at Dickey’s Barbecue. The family from the Escalade piles in. Pulled pork all around. | WHITEHALL, W.Va., 1 p.m.: Lunch is at Dickey’s Barbecue. The family from the Escalade piles in. Pulled pork all around. |
| The restaurant is in a tired shopping mall: big, echoey, clean and half-ghostly on the inside. There is an armed forces recruiting station. A Social Security office. | |
| Outside is a bank of local newspapers: “Tax hikes on sugary drinks proposed in state,” says a headline in the Marion Times. | Outside is a bank of local newspapers: “Tax hikes on sugary drinks proposed in state,” says a headline in the Marion Times. |
| “E.P.A. pick vows to end overregulation,” announces The Exponent Telegram. | “E.P.A. pick vows to end overregulation,” announces The Exponent Telegram. |
| “State budget forecast worst since Great Depression,” says the Times West Virginian. | “State budget forecast worst since Great Depression,” says the Times West Virginian. |
| Soft-serve ice cream is free and all-you-can-eat. The senator is on his cellphone, licking a cone down to a soft nub. | |
| Miles driven: 207. Miles to go: 240. | Miles driven: 207. Miles to go: 240. |
| _____ | |
| PLEASANT VALLEY, W.Va., 1:30 p.m.: Everyone packs into the Escalade and we’re on our way again. | |
| This year, Mark’s daughter, Morgan, 15, switched from a public school to a Christian private school, where creationism is taught alongside the theory of evolution; the science textbooks are provided by Bob Jones University. She has a lot more work at the private school, she says; specifically, the math is harder. Morgan is concerned about the kids she left at her old school, and wonders whether they are being adequately prepared for the future. | |
| Elizabeth, Morgan’s 16-year-old cousin, attends a Catholic school but is also enrolled at Ashland Community Technical College. She will earn a two-year associate’s degree in May. She plans to earn a four-year degree while she works at her father’s asphalt business. | |
| Daron, her father, has taught Elizabeth how to operate a road grader, a paver and a roller. He taught her how to hunt with guns and with a bow. He taught her how to fly fish. In their house is a room with pine siding, hickory floors, and oak trusses supporting a ceiling 28 feet high. It feels almost like a cathedral. On the walls are a stuffed menagerie of Elizabeth’s hunting trophies: elk, wild turkey, deer, antelope and a mountain goat. | |
| Lisa, her mother, grew up in Echo, W.Va.: “Very rural,” she said. She helps run the asphalt company, as well as their two side businesses: a fly fishing resort and an hunting guide service. She collects antiques, particularly those that hark back to a lost West Virginia past. “She has a passion for old gas pumps,” her husband says. | |
| Miles driven: 210. Miles to go: 237. |