{"id":145128,"date":"2026-03-22T05:52:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T05:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/145128\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T05:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T05:52:23","slug":"what-a-day-at-a-gas-station-in-pennsylvania-reveals-about-the-midterms-from-the-politics-desk-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/145128\/","title":{"rendered":"What a day at a gas station in Pennsylvania reveals about the midterms: From the Politics Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to From the Politics Desk<\/a>, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s edition, Jonathan Allen shares what he learned after spending a day talking to voters at a Pennsylvania gas station. Plus, our Capitol Hill team provides an update on the talks to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. <\/p>\n

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Wollner<\/p>\n

What a day at a gas station in Pennsylvania revealed about the midtermsBy Jonathan Allen<\/p>\n

In just a couple of days, tens of millions of viewers have seen Amanda Robbins giving President Donald Trump a piece of her mind on NBC News, social media, \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d and \u201cThe Daily Show,\u201d among other platforms.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old resident of Millersburg, Pennsylvania, is upset with Trump about the price of gas and the war in Iran. So, I asked her what she would say<\/a> to him if she knew he would see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are a worthless pile of s—,\u201d Robbins said, looking straight into our video camera<\/a>. I knew she had voted for him. How many times, I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree times,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was my bad. Apparently, I\u2019m an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve been asked by friends, colleagues and others how I found myself in Millersburg, 25 miles north of Harrisburg, talking to voters \u2014 including the one with the big, bold opinion of Trump, his handling of his job and how she came to turn on him.<\/p>\n

In the run-up to any midterm election, reporters fan out across the country and talk to swing voters in swing districts and swing states. I wanted to shake up that model a little bit and talk specifically to MAGA voters in a swing district in a swing state.<\/p>\n

When the GOP has been at its strongest in the Trump era, those voters have flocked to the polls to help him, and his party, win control of the White House, the House and the Senate.<\/p>\n

Millersburg, one of a series of MAGA enclaves in battleground Pennsylvania\u2019s highly competitive 10th District, looked like a perfect place to find out how Trump voters assess his performance and think about November\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

The local congressman, Republican Rep. Scott Perry, has been a vocal advocate for the MAGA agenda and narrowly kept his seat in 2024. Harrisburg leans heavily Democratic, but much of the rest of the district, including Millersburg, is ruby red. Perry\u2019s race is widely viewed as a toss-up this time.<\/p>\n

I figured a gas station was a good place to talk to folks about the war and the price of fuel \u2014 it would be fresh in their minds as they pumped and there would be time as the tanks filled to chat with a reporter.<\/p>\n

So I met up with photographer Hannah Beier and jack-of-all-trades producer and cameraman Kevin Portilla in Millersburg. We went to the gas station with the lowest prices \u2014 because we figured it would be busy and because the manager allowed us to interview customers.<\/p>\n

What we found, as expected, was a lot of voters who cast ballots for Trump. Some of them are pleased with the war in Iran and willing to pay more at the pump in service of it. Some didn\u2019t love the war or the higher prices but are still with Trump and the GOP. Others said they aren\u2019t likely to vote in the midterms.<\/p>\n

And one \u2014 Robbins \u2014 hit a political nerve center with her conclusion that her own votes are the reason for the war, the surging gas prices and the economic squeeze she feels. She won\u2019t vote for a Democrat in the midterms, but she won\u2019t vote for a Republican, either, she said.<\/p>\n

Republicans will spend much of the next several months trying to make sure Trump voters come to the polls. Their greatest fear is that there are too many Trump voters like Robbins \u2014 who aren\u2019t inclined to help him maintain power \u2014 across the country to hold control of the House and the Senate.<\/p>\n

Bipartisan talks to end Homeland Security standoff get serious as shutdown drags onBy Scott Wong, Frank Thorp V and Brennan Leach<\/p>\n

Top Republicans and Democrats trying to end the monthlong Department of Homeland Security shutdown huddled with White House border czar Tom Homan in the Capitol today.<\/p>\n

The in-person talks come as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., threatened to nix the upcoming two-week Easter recess unless negotiators can strike a deal.<\/p>\n

Since DHS funding lapsed on Feb. 14, lawmakers have shown little interest in ending the standoff. But with recent suspected terror attacks around the country, thousands of federal employees working without pay and major disruptions at some airports as TSA agents miss paychecks, urgency now appears to be growing on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been encouraging this for a while, and glad to see both sides sitting down and having Homan up here,\u201d Thune said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a part of that is, I think, a pretty big deal, and a recognition that we need to get this resolved,\u201d the leader continued. \u201cAnd it needs to get resolved by the end of next week. I can\u2019t see us taking a break if the government is still shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are slated to depart for a two-week recess beginning on March 27.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s gathering marked a rare formal sit-down meeting between Republicans and Democrats since the shutdown began 33 days ago. And Homan\u2019s presence in the Capitol is a sign that bipartisan talks are getting more serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that the White House was here, but we are a long ways apart,\u201d said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. \u201cThat\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, others who had participated in the talks characterized the gathering as productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just working, trying to figure out how to get DHS funded. We got TSA agents out there that aren\u2019t getting paid, and we need to come up with a solution,\u201d said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who serves on the Appropriations Committee. \u201cI think we made some progress. [Homan\u2019s] gonna stay engaged. His expertise is very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddde\ufe0f Today’s other top stories<\/p>\n

\u27a1\ufe0f Iran war: Israel launched a widespread strike on the world-largest gas field, triggering retaliation from Tehran against key energy sites across the Gulf Arab states. Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 History dept.: Trump invoked Japan\u2019s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor when speaking about recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran during a bilateral meeting at the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 Exclusive: Some Department of Homeland Security contractors told White House officials they were asked to pay Corey Lewandowski when he was a top adviser to Secretary Kristi Noem. Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2611\ufe0f The ayes have it: The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted to advance the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to replace Noem at DHS. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against him, while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., voted for him. Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd0e New probe: Former National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent, who resigned in protest over the Iran war, is under investigation by the FBI for allegedly leaking classified information. Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcdd Epstein saga: House Democrats walked out of a closed-door hearing with Attorney General Pam Bondi yesterday while she was briefing lawmakers on the Epstein files after being subpoenaed to testify in mid-April. Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today\u2019s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Owen Auston-Babcock. <\/p>\n

If you have feedback \u2014 likes or dislikes \u2014 email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[65267,34,8098,10292,41079,66244,28,30,29,66245,30750,24540],"class_list":["post-145128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-amanda-robbins","tag-donald-trump","tag-gas-prices","tag-gas-station","tag-iran","tag-millersburg","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-swing-districts","tag-swing-states","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}