WASHINGTON — (CNN) It took just one tweet Tuesday for the deep divide over President-elect Donald Trump to flare again.
Carrier, a company that makes air conditioners, tweeted that it had reached a deal with Trump to save nearly 1,000 factory jobs in Indiana from going to Mexico.
Many conservatives erupted in praise for Trump the job saver who is already delivering on his promises. Many liberals erupted in skepticism. They demanded details of just how much Trump must have had to give away to save only half of the jobs Carrier intended to take to Mexico.
“If President Elect Donald Trump keeps doing what he did for Carrier, he can tweet at 4:50am in the morning…we don’t care. #WeWantJobs,” tweeted conservative radio host Wayne Dupree.
Carrier poses an early critical test for Trump, who promised during the campaign to keep American jobs from fleeing to Mexico. It’s also shaping up to be a test for the media: How big of a “win” will outlets call this for Trump.
Some Trump supporters made it clear where they stand — and that they are scrutinizing media reaction.
“The elitist media snobs are already trash talking the #Carrier deal. They can’t stand watching Trump fight & win for the working class,” tweeted a Trump campaign volunteer in Arizona.
“This is fantastic news!! Win-win for all!!” wrote Indiana realtor Daniell Barton on Facebook.
While Trump fans celebrated, many left-leaning personalities did not.
“It is impossible to assess the merits of the Carrier deal until we know why the company changed its mind — and at what cost to taxpayers,” tweeted New York Times correspondent Binyamin Appelbaum.
“Company says they’ll leave, government comes up with a big bribe to pay them to stay,” tweeted MSNBC host Chris Hayes.
Carrier, which is owned by defense contractor United Technologies, announced in February that it would close two Indiana plants, costing a total of 2,100 jobs. It’s unclear what will happen to the other jobs. Trump scheduled a press conference at the Indiana Carrier plant Thursday to unveil more details.
CNNMoney’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. (photo: Carrier Twitter)
