March 14
On This Day In 2019
Trump had sworn he’d be a different Republican. “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican (does), and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” he had boldly announced.
But as @RollCall wrote OTDI 2019, he broke that promise...yet again.
“Maybe the president (thought he) could get away with his proposed $1.5 trillion slash in Medicaid spending over the next decade, since programs that aid the poor and the near-poor are not wildly popular in Trump’s America.”
“But attacking Medicare is about as popular as a national program to confiscate kittens,” they wrote.
They also noted that he was also trying to cut Medicare by more than $800 billion.
But this was hardly the only time: “Donald Trump wants you to forget he proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare every year he was in office. Every single year,” said Seth Schuster, from the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign.
“If Trump returns to office, the benefits millions of America’s seniors rely on…will once again be on the chopping block. Donald Trump only cares about making sure he and his wealthy buddies get their tax cuts no matter how many lives are destroyed in the process,” Schuster added.
The hypocrisy of the GOP is clear. As Paul Krugman observed: “Republicans have tried to make deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare every time they thought there might be a political window of opportunity.”
These social programs are always a target from the GOP. During a primary debate in 2023, As Nikki Haley noted: “Any [GOP] candidate that tells you they’re not going to go after Social Security and Medicare is not being serious.”
Sources/Links for further reading
Roll Call has the story on Trump’s 2019 proposal to cut social programs
NY Times columnist @PaulKrugman has some background on the GOP’s history with Social Security
Here's Schuster’s tweet
Fox has the debate coverage
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump tries to cut Social Security and Medicare yet again. Trillions of dollars worth of cuts.