I’m not a fan of “Morning Joe,” but that’s where VA Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger appeared this morning, so…see below for video and a few highlights.
- Abigail Spanberger (in response to a question about “the most basic civics 101 lesson anybody could be given,” namely that “you cannot follow illegal orders,” and Trump’s unhinged response): “Well, I think at the core of this is, as you noted, that members of Congress who themselves are patriots, have served our country in uniform or in the intelligence community, in some of the roughest spots in the world, putting their lives on the line in service to our country to protect our fellow Americans, they stated what is not just obvious, but legally true in the case. Which is, if given an illegal order, you have an obligation not to follow it, but to uphold your oath to the constitution first and foremost. And we see a president who, once again, is willing to weaponize what he views as the requirement that everyone be loyal to him, whether he follows the law or not. And so, for me, the deeply concerning part is the fact that, you know, he jumped straight on this issue, frankly, as a bit of a distraction, a deeply dangerous one, that has caused increased threats for all of the members who were part of this effort, who stated what is in fact the true legal case. But I think it’s just the president once again doubling down on any effort to say the most outrageous, dangerous and potentially violent thing as a distraction from the fact that he hasn’t delivered on any of the things he said he would do when he was running. And in fact, things are more chaotic. Costs continue to go up and people’s lives are not getting better. And now he’s endangering the lives of honorable members of Congress in an effort to distract from that reality.”
- Spanberger on question about Trump claiming the affordability crisis is a “hoax,” a “con”: “Well, the numbers reflect the reality that people feel on the ground. Rents over the past four years have gone up 14%. The cost of buying a home in Virginia has gone up 18%…prescription drug prices continue to outpace people’s ability to pay, grocery store prices are a bit up. Agriculture is our number one private industry, and so many of our small family farmers have lost entire markets as they’ve seen input costs via, you know, technology and equipment or fertilizer go up. And so everywhere I travel across Virginia – in the reddest of the red areas and the bluest of the blue – people have been clear eyed about the fact that there is this feeling of uneasiness that even when they can still afford to make that payment at the pharmacy counter or the grocery store, they worry about what comes tomorrow. And it is true, it is not a hoax, it is deeply felt. And even those who are okay and doing okay financially, they worry about their young adult children or they worry about their aging parents. Because across the board, in every corner of Virginia, we are seeing energy prices go up, housing prices go up, and of course, prescription drug prices continue to be far, far too high for most people to be able to afford.”
- Spanberger on the healthcare crisis in Virginia: “So I think Virginia is pretty representative of what we see in many other places. Health care is already too expensive. Prescription drug prices are already too expensive. Insurance rates have already continued to go up. The cost of of Medicaid continues to go up here in the state. But now the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is just going to amplify those challenges in substantial ways. Notably, no fewer than six hospitals, rural hospitals, are on the path towards closure. We’ve had three rural clinics already announced they were closing because of the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill. Some hospitals that are hanging in there are closing labor and delivery departments. And so even when you’re trying to think towards the future, how you attract business? How do you attract community members? If you have to say, well, the nearest hospital is three hours away or the nearest hospital is an hour away, but they don’t have labor and delivery units. It impacts a community so meaningfully, and we know that Virginia will be among the hardest-hit states as a result of this bill in the health care space. And it’s a desperate challenge that we are looking to face head on into the coming years. But the crisis that’s occurring in the health care space, whether it’s to our safety net, hospitals or our rural hospitals, is one that across the country we need to get a handle on, because it will meaningfully and horribly impact the economic trajectory and prosperity of communities and community members across places like Virginia and across the rest of the country.”
- Spanberger on what she can do as governor to push back on severe cuts to healthcare and hospital shutdowns: “As governor, I think part of the essential piece of it – one, there’s a financial component where the state can be supportive. The state needs to try and bridge certain gaps, where the state can work through multi-state compacts to try and ensure that we’re delivering greater care access, particularly to specialists. We need to move in that direction. But importantly, also just being the voice of the people that I will serve as governor. I was recently, right before the election, in far southwest Virginia, I visited an incredible hospital that had closed for eight years because of financial instability. It was not able to stay open. They had to close it down. And community members dreamed of and looked forward to a day when that hospital would reopen. And so a local gentleman would go regularly and make sure the water pump was working to keep the building from falling into decay. The sheriff’s deputies looked out to make sure that the building was not falling into disrepair. And they did this for years. And then finally, just a couple of years ago, the hospital reopened. And it is an extraordinary beacon, not just of hope, but of employment, of health care, of connected community, delivering so much more than just medicine. They have a food pantry and a clothes pantry. And they tell an extraordinary story of what this hospital was able to do in saving the life of a young boy, not just saving him after he was wounded, playing with his brother, but recognizing and realizing that he actually had a potentially fatal heart defect, to then move him to much larger-scale care out of state, where he was able to get the care that saved his life ultimately, in the end. And this hospital is one of the hospitals that, because of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’, there is a path towards its closure unless something changes. And so, as governor, I will continue to tell the stories of the doctors in that community who are fighting for the people who surround them. I will continue to tell the stories of the nurses. I asked about the hiring and staffing issues and and people said, oh my goodness, we actually have no staffing challenges, unlike so many places in health care around the rest of the country, because finally, nurses were able to move back home to a community that they love. And making sure that these stories are clear; frankly, that the representatives who voted to put such economic strain on hospitals like this one know the impact of that vote. And I’m going to continue pushing for Congress in the future to make real legislative change, frankly, because that’s the only way that you save places like the the Lee County community hospital.”
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