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Talking points were no match for the real world as CBS News’s Scott Pelley confronted “the election in an eggshell” when one Democrat voter explained siding with the GOP.

(Video Credit: 60 Minutes)

Just across the Delaware River from New Jersey, Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District swung along with the commonwealth in electing a Republican representative while backing President-elect Donald Trump. In the latest episode of “60 Minutes,” Pelley’s reporting on the area brought him to the Nazareth Diner where owner Roz Werkheiser pushed back on the narrative of Bidenomics.

“The prices have went up, obviously because of the food cost. And for a family of, like, four people, five people, I have them come in and say, ‘Oh my God, I spent $100 with the tip for breakfast? That’s crazy.’ Which it is,” she explained as the average tab has climbed from $24 in 2020 to $38 in 2024.

Having worked as a waitress 25 years prior, the owner of the restaurant in the town neighboring Christmas City, Bethlehem, detailed to the reporter, “My mother used to always say, ‘Gotta vote Democrat. You know, they’re for the poor people.’”

“You grew up in a Democratic household? But you just voted for Donald Trump?” asked Pelley as Werkheiser answered “Yes” to both. Seemingly incredulous, he pressed, “Inflation is down by more than half, interest rates are falling, mortgage rates are falling, wages are going up. Are you not feeling that?”

“I don’t feel it. No, I don’t feel it. I don’t feel it at all,” the business owner asserted. “Everybody I talk to, nobody’s wages went up. But we had four years of this. I mean, four years. Gas was super high. Yes, it just went down now, but what — the past four — three-and-a-half years it was up.”

Werkheiser wasn’t alone in pushing back on the misleading claims from the reporter as one social media account scrutinized, “Inflation is down…’ The rate of inflation has decreased, prices haven’t. Prices are rising less than they were a year ago, when inflation was at a multi-decade high. [Shaking my head]. Such dishonest journalism. Words matter, Scott. These mistakes just can’t be chalked up to ignorance. It’s propaganda, pure and simple.”

Elsewhere in the segment, Pelley spoke with nearby Muhlenberg College Political Science Professor Christopher Borick who made note of the bellwether nature of Northampton County which trended with the most recent presidential elections.

“I think he had the winds on his side here, from talking to voters. They’re not in a great mood. They’re not in a good place,” he told the reporter, making note of housing prices, grocery prices, and in particular eggs.

Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional district, which includes Northampton County, as well as Carbon, Lehigh, and part of Monroe County, was one of the seats flipped in favor of the GOP as state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie defeated three-term incumbent Rep. Susan Wild.

Previously, Fox Business detailed that food prices had climbed nearly 23% as of September, while energy was up over 42% and the cost of a new car had jumped by 19.5% over the span of the Biden-Harris administration.

Contrasting the repeated claims that the economy was doing well for everyday Americans, Werkheiser expressed, as did others, how she believed Trump “knows the American people and the working class, yes.”

Kevin Haggerty
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