Trump’s tariffs forced U.S. factories to close down or lay off workers, and longtime GOP voters are revolting—’It was like taking a knife to the back’

Last year, Vandermeer’s premonition came true in a very personal way. The 62-year-old lost his job as a product designer at Howard Miller, a clockmaker that relied on parts produced overseas. After a century in business, the company in Zeeland, Michigan, closed its factory, sold off its inventory and brand name and laid off nearly 200 workers. “So much for bringing jobs back,” Vandermeer said. Next month, he plans to vote straight Democrat in the midterms. As if an unpopular war with Iran and persistent inflation were not enough trouble for Republicans, they are confronting a backlash over the tariffsthat Trump made a cornerstone of his economic agenda. He promised that charging higher taxes on imports would spur a factory renaissance in the United States, but that has not come to…