SCRANTON — As Donald Trump participated in a Fox News Town Hall in Scranton, Pennsylvania Democrats made sure that he couldn’t hide from his record of broken promises. Check out some of the coverage below.
Before Trump took the stage, State Representative Marty Flynn and the PA Dems called out his record of broken promises and demanded answers:
Scranton Times-Tribune (opinion): “Town hall meetings have a long and storied history. When done right, they give everyday voters a chance to press politicians on their records. Tonight, Scranton gets a chance to ask questions directly of the president of the United States. Here are a few questions I’d like to see the President answer tonight:
If you wanted to make health care more accessible and more affordable, why are you backing a lawsuit that would strip preexisting conditions protections from nearly 5.3 million Pennsylvanians and rip away coverage entirely from nearly 1 million Pennsylvanians?
You promised that you wouldn’t go after vital earned benefits like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Why did you propose cuts to these programs in your budget? And why do you admit these programs could be on the chopping block in the next year?”
Latrobe Bulletin: “As President Donald Trump heads to Scranton today, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party has issued a release noting the broken promises on health care from him and his administration.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party said Trump promised Pennsylvania his administration would improve health care, but instead they have sued to overturn the Affordable Care Act, jeopardizing the health care of over 800,000 Pennsylvanians.”
Following the event, Senator Casey and the PA Dems blasted Trump’s performance, pointing to his attempts to gut earned benefits and dismantle the health care system:
Times Leader: “In a conversation with the Times Leader on Thursday night, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, responded to several points made by the president.
First, Casey said more than 50,000 residents — 30,000 in Luzerne County and 20,000 in Lackawanna County — would suffer if certain government programs are cut.
‘When you match his answers to the questions about cutting entitlement programs and look at his budget proposal, the devastating cuts are still there,’ Casey said. ‘I don’t think that’s fair in any way to middle class families when you’re cutting that much. It just doesn’t make sense.’”
Times-Tribune: “In a post-town hall telephone interview, Sen. Bob Casey, a Scranton resident, dismissed the Burisma claims against Biden as nothing but a distraction. ‘It’s an issue that Republicans have been latching on to because they have no ideas for health care,’ Casey said.
Trump’s new budget cuts Medicare and Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years while the president also pursues a repeal of the Affordable Care Act without offering a serious alternative, Casey said.
‘He doesn’t want to talk about the lawsuit he’s supporting that will tear away protections for pre-existing conditions,’ Casey said. ‘It (the lawsuit) destroys the health-care system. He ought to answer that question.’”
Politics PA: “The Pennsylvania Democratic Party issued multiple statements throughout the day criticizing Trump on the economy and healthcare.
‘Donald Trump is an ineffective leader and nothing he said tonight changes that. He has broken promise after promise to Pennsylvania families and still has no answers,’ said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy Patton Mills. ‘We’re still waiting to hear why he is trying to end protections for 5 million Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions, or why his administration is supporting a lawsuit that would rip health coverage away from over 800,000 people in the Commonwealth.’
The PA Democratic Party also issued a statement slamming Trump and Sen. Pat Toomey, who was in attendance at the town hall, for their response to the Coronavirus.”
###