MONESSEN, PA – On July 3, millions of Americans who tune in each Sunday morning to watch This Week on ABC, hosted by George Stephanopoulos, watched alternate host Martha Raddatz visit the beleaguered former steel city of Monessen, PA, near Pittsburgh, and interview its mayor, Lou Mavrakis, a 79-year-old Greek-American lifelong Monessen resident and steelworker, whose father was an immigrant from Chios.
Six weeks later, on August 14, with Raddatz again hosting This Week, she played the clip of the July 3 interview with Mayor Mavrakis. In both instances, the story angle implied that lifelong Democrats such as Mavrakis, disappointed after eight years of Barack Obama, and in a larger sense decades of establishmentarians of both major parties, are switching to Republican nominee and avowed anti-establishment populist, Donald Trump. In the weeks between the interviews, Mavrakis has been courted for interviews by a multitude of major media outlets, such as the New York Times, Financial Times, and Bloomberg News. But is Mavrakis really voting for Donald Trump?
Not necessarily. “I didn’t say I’m voting for Trump,” Mavrakis told The National Herald. “I’m undecided.”
Mavrakis told TNH that Monessen, once a thriving city in the heart of steel country had a population of 23,000, “but now we’re down to 7500.” He does not have much faith in politicians in general: “they pay lip service, and do nothing,” is his overall sense.
Would Trump be any different? Mavrakis will make up his mind once he sees real action. He invited Trump to speak in Monessen on June 28, and said the candidate “says the things I want to hear.” But, again, they are, at this point, just words, and Mavrakis has been around long enough not to be overly enthused by yet-fulfilled promises.
AMERICA FIRST
Though Mavrakis remains undecided about whom to vote for in November, there is no doubt about the issues most important to him. He rails against the United States spending so much money on foreign aid “to nations that hate us,” especially when those in his own community are suffering. “The people who built this country (such as steelworkers like those in Monessen) are the ones suffering the most.”
He knows them well, because he is one of them. He went straight from high school to the steel mill, following in his father’s footsteps, and rose to become international representative of the United Steelworkers of America. After he retired, he focused on serving the community through elected office.
Mavrakis is angry, and understands why so many of his fellow Americans are angry, because the politicians get to Washington and forget about the people. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent,” Mavrakis says. “I care about these 7500 people,” and that will remain his priority, he vows. Whoever gives the money to Monessen, he says, gets his vote.
As for connecting with his Greek heritage, Mavrakis used to vacation in Greece quite regularly. “I had a 13-year run,” he said. “Then, they went to the Euro, and everything tripled, quadrupled in price. They can keep it.”