Heading Into GOTV Weekend, Virginians Can’t Afford to Forget the Consequences of Re-electing Donald Trump

From the Democratic Party of Virginia:

Heading into GOTV weekend, Virginians can’t afford to forget the consequences of re-electing Donald Trump

RICHMOND – As Virginians prepare to head into GOTV weekend, voters and volunteers across the Commonwealth remain all too aware of the consequences of re-electing Donald Trump to another four years in office. Today, Virginia Democrats are reminding voters across the Commonwealth of some of the biggest lies and broken promises from the Trump administration, and how devastating another term of a Trump presidency would be for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“Donald Trump’s four years in office have been a disaster for the health, safety and economic security of Virginians in every corner of the Commonwealth,” said Hannah Muldavin, Press Secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia. “With five days left until election day, it’s crucial that every Virginian who hasn’t voted make a plan to vote and bring a friend. We can’t lose sight of the consequences of re-electing a President who doesn’t care about us or our families.”

Consequences of Re-Electing Donald Trump

Health Care Consequences: Donald Trump’s top policy priority has been to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would take away health care from hundreds of thousands of Virginians.

• Trump has spent the last four years destabilizing the health care system, and the week after the election, Trump will bring a lawsuit before the Supreme Court in a case to have the Affordable Care Act struck down.
• If Trump is successful, 642,000 Virginians could lose their health coverage, nearly doubling the state’s number of uninsured residents.
• Without the ACA’s protections, as many as 3.5 million Virginians with preexisting conditions could have been denied coverage or charged higher rates.
• Additionally, nearly 166,000 Virginians have survived coronavirus — which would likely also be treated as a pre-existing condition if the ACA is eliminated.
• An additional 470,000 Virginians who are enrolled in the Commonwealth’s Medicaid expansion would likely lose their health care coverage if Trump succeeds in getting rid of the ACA.

COVID-19 Consequences: Donald Trump ignored scientists and experts, causing a disastrous response to the pandemic with over 226,000 Americans and 3,600 Virginians lives lost.

• Despite six months since the first reported case in America, the virus is not under control — Virginia Department of Health said that COVID-19 cases are continuing to spike in Virginia.
• Audio released this week reveals Jared Kushner even bragged how Donald Trump ‘cut out the doctors and scientists’ when making decisions about how to handle the coronavirus outbreak.

Economic Consequences: Trump’s tax scam benefited his wealthy friends and donors while leaving working Virginians behind.

• After Trump’s tax law was enacted, for the first time in history billionaires paid a lower tax rate than the working class.
• Even before COVID, household debt hit a record high of $14 trillion.
• Trump policies created a fragile economy that was especially vulnerable to the downturn that has resulted from the pandemic — especially for African Americans.
• As many as 482,000 Virginians were unemployed at the peak of the COVID recession, and unemployment had more than tripled since the start of the year. Trump’s COVID economy has become the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Climate Consequences: Donald Trump has repeatedly said he doesn’t believe in climate change. Meanwhile, Norfolk and Hampton Roads are in severe danger of flooding because of rising sea levels due to climate change.

• Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, which experts say would hurt American job creation and ceded important international leadership and influence to China.
• Trump has rolled back rules and let corporations spew more methane and toxins into the air.

Racial Justice Consequences: No Virginian will forget Donald Trump’s comments about Charlottesville three years ago when he refused to denounce white supremacy and said there are good people “on both sides”. And while Trump claims he’s done more for the Black community than any president in history, Virginians are clear: he has not.

• Trump failed to condemn white supremacy during the first debate, telling members of a violent white supremacist group to “stand by” before a national audience.
• In 2017,Trump made similar comments, calling neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville “very fine people.”

Older Virginians Consequences: Donald Trump’s proposals would cut Medicare funding and funding for Social Security, stripping older Americans from programs they have spent their entire lives paying into.

• If the Trump-GOP lawsuit is successful and the Affordable Care Act is struck down a week after the election, 110,000 Virginia seniors are at risk of having to pay more for prescription drugs because the Medicare “donut hole” will be reopened.
• From 2010 to 2016 more than 11.8 million Medicare beneficiaries have received discounts over $26.8 billion on prescription drugs – an average of $2,272 per beneficiary.
• In Virginia, 109,517 seniors each saved an average of $1,104 because of the ACA.

Military Veterans and their Families Consequences: Donald Trump has called military members and their families  ‘losers and suckers’ and has pulled more than $77 million in planned military construction projects from Virginia in order to fund his unnecessary border wall.

A Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration is one where they tackle health care, the economy, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• Joe and Kamala will build on the progress of the Affordable Care Act to lower the cost of health care and expand coverage to low-income Americans.
• Joe and Kamala will work to build our economy back better by creating more American jobs and opportunities and building an economy that is equitable for everyone to participate in.
• Joe and Kamala will work on day one to implement a plan to slow the spread of the coronavirus and support small businesses and workers who have been hit hardest by the pandemic.