Cohen’s dispatch is one of many that came to form a distinct genre of election writing: the “Trump Country” piece, which seeks to illuminate the values of Trump supporters using Appalachia—and most often West Virginia—as a model. “To understand Donald Trump’s success,” the composite argument flows, “you must understand Appalachia.” The march of the “Trump Country” genre became especially striking during a fraught election cycle marked by otherwise erratic coverage and scandal on both sides of the political aisle.
