Left behind again: Rural America and the hypocrisy of populism

A persistent, yet often overlooked, public health crisis continues to affect many rural communities across the United States, where residents struggling with deindustrialization, depopulation, hollowed out public services, and climate disasters face stark inequities in health. Despite voting in large numbers for a right-wing, populist president, rural residents are nevertheless unlikely to benefit from his changes to policy. To counter the corrosive effects of populist rhetoric, critical public health communities need to overcome the metrocentric and/or personal biases that shape research agendas and prioritize actively learning from and engaging with rural communities.