Editorial: Credit where credit is due

Our own city saw itself in an unlikely place last week: President Donald Trump’s personal Twitter.

Evidently prompted by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’ visit to the Bethlehem ArtsQuest center on April 15, the Bethlehem community was thrusted into political discussion, acknowledging its ability to have a tangible impact on the 2020 election.

The event, which was hosted by Fox News and moderated by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, saw attendance from prominent community members and locals alike.

In true Trump fashion, the president responded on Twitter stating that, “Many Trump Fans & Signs were outside of the @FoxNews Studio last night in the now thriving (Thank you President Trump) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for the interview with Crazy Bernie Sanders. Big complaints about not being let in-stuffed with Bernie supporters. What’s with @FoxNews?”

By essentially taking credit for any growth that the historically working-class community has seen in the last decade, Trump discredited the efforts put forth by local Bethlehem government agencies and even went a step further, quite literally responding as if his beloved Fox News was cheating on him with the enemy.

In his tweet, Trump insinuated that his fans were not allowed into the event. Trump’s statements elicited responses from Sanders’ supporters on Twitter stating, “Oh please!!! Since people liked Bernie’s ideas, your excuse is that Fox didn’t let your “fans” in?”

While a decent number of Trump supporters did congregate outside the event, the event was open to all who registered for a free ticket online, prior to the deadline.

Regardless of the president’s response to the event, the visit from the potential Democratic front-runner already highlighted the weight that the Lehigh Valley could possess in the next presidential election, and Trump’s tweet only went to verify that sentiment.

Bethlehem, which has been historically politically polarized, almost down the middle, has continuously served to represent dramatically different ends of the political spectrum. In the 2016 election, Pennsylvania voted 48.8 percent Trump, and 47.6 percent Clinton, with Bethlehem’s districts closely mirroring those statistics. Bethlehem, which is broken up into Northampton and Lehigh counties, both fell within 4 percentage points of one another, with Northampton county favoring Trump and Lehigh county favoring Clinton. 

As one of the few swing states, Pennsylvania, and more specifically polarized counties like Northampton and Lehigh, have profound potential to impact election results. The landscape displays a concentrated combination of historically blue-collar conservatives and fiscally unstable families who tend to lean left and could be swayed by tax, healthcare and wage reforms.

Also home to multiple private universities, which have historically leaned left, the ever-changing landscape of the Lehigh Valley shows a lack of predictability, and therefore a large opportunity for influence, which was confirmed by Sanders’ decision to visit last week.

While Trump was right in his claims that Bethlehem has grown in recent years, his claim that the city is “thriving” specifically due to changes made during his time in office shows a disregard for the history of Bethlehem and any efforts that the community has put toward  improvement.

Bethlehem has received more prominent political attention in the past week since Sanders’ visit than it has in years. The credit that Trump has taken for any improvement that the constantly evolving city has seen must instead be attributed to those who have dedicated their careers toward making necessary changes to our city.

Credit must be given to those who have revitalized the city since the closing of Bethlehem Steel in 1995 and its bankruptcy in 2003. The development of the SouthSide Arts District, the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and investments in unifying the North and South sides have shown a dedication to revitalizing Bethlehem far beyond Trump’s years in office.

Credit can also also be given to the Lehigh University community, which has worked to make improvements to the South Bethlehem landscape and has aimed to strengthen relations between students, administration and the community at large.

Credit must also be given to Sanders, who legitimately acknowledged the polarizing landscape and the unsung potential it has to impact a pressing and prominent election season in the next two years.

Credit, however, is not at all due to Trump, who may have impacted individual Bethlehem community members, but as a whole has not acknowledged the strengths and weaknesses of the community and only seems to praise the city when it benefits him.