CNN recently aired what it likely hoped would be a takedown of President Donald Trump’s support base—but the network’s efforts failed to land.

Chief National Correspondent John King traveled to Allentown, Pennsylvania, aiming to spotlight dissatisfaction among working-class Trump voters. During the segment, he interviewed Gerard Babb, an assembly line worker at Mack Trucks, where looming layoffs are causing anxiety among employees.

King reported that Mack Trucks is preparing to lay off more than 350 workers. Given Babb’s position, he is among those most at risk. Naturally, CNN attempted to use Babb’s personal situation as a vehicle to solicit regret for his support of President Trump.

While Babb acknowledged that tariffs “played a part” in the company’s decision, he didn’t take the bait.

“Donald Trump could have had a little bit more finesse instead of using a blanket policy over everything,” Babb told King, offering a fair critique but falling far short of the anti-Trump narrative CNN was likely hoping to promote.

King pressed further, asking Babb, “So four months in, how would you grade Trump?”—a question seemingly designed to invite a failing grade.

But Babb didn’t play along.

“I would give Trump right now a B+,” he responded, striking a measured and thoughtful tone. “I want stuff to happen right now, but I understand that the gears of Washington move very slow.”

He added, “It’s very stressful that I’m … going to be out of work in the near future because I want to provide for my wife and kids.”

Babb’s calm, grounded demeanor and his refusal to parrot CNN’s preferred talking points stood out. He was honest about his struggles but remained clear in his continued support for President Trump—a fact CNN likely did not want to highlight.

He didn’t pretend Trump is flawless. But he didn’t cave to the mainstream media’s “Orange Man Bad” narrative either.

The broader context matters here. President Trump’s tariffs are often mischaracterized by critics as reckless or vindictive. In reality, they’re part of a long-overdue correction to decades of unfair trade policies that hurt American manufacturing.

And the results are beginning to materialize.

As noted in a March report from Newsweek, major companies such as John Deere have committed to investing $20 billion in the United States. Others—including Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Nvidia, and Softbank—have also pledged significant investment in the U.S. economy.

The economic realignment underway won’t happen overnight. While layoffs like those at Mack Trucks are painful and real, they don’t represent a failure of leadership. They are part of a difficult but necessary restructuring designed to put American workers and industries first—something past administrations paid lip service to but rarely acted on.

CNN’s segment wasn’t about helping Babb or exploring complex economic realities. It was about trying to extract a soundbite from a Trump supporter that they could loop for days.

They didn’t get one.

Better luck next time.