North Carolinians Can't Trust Donald Trump. Here's Why

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Sept. 30 -- The North Carolina Democratic Party issued the following news:

Donald Trump has already broken many of his key campaign promises to North Carolina's families. He did not protect North Carolinians' health care, Social Security or Medicare; he failed to stand up to China and secure a trade deal that helped workers; he failed to boost the economy or fight for American workers; and he definitely did not drain the swamp.

North Carolinians just can't trust Donald Trump. Here's why.

CLAIM: Trump promised North Carolinians that he would protect pre-existing condition protections.

* Trump: "We're Going To Have A New Healthcare Plan That's Going To Cost Much Less Money, Both For You And For The Country, And It's Going To Be A Much Higher Quality Healthcare." [Trump Campaign Rally, Charlotte NC, 10/14/16]

REALITY: Instead, he is backing a lawsuit that jeopardizes health care coverage and pre-existing condition protections for millions of Americans. The ACA protects as many as 5 million people in North Carolina with pre-existing conditions. If the GOP continues with their sabotage efforts, those protections are at risk. If the Trump lawsuit succeeds, 503,000 North Carolinians could lose their health care coverage.

CLAIM: Trump promised middle-class tax cuts, even saying "the rich will not be gaining at all."

* Trump: "We put in our tax plan. It's the biggest tax cut of anybody by far and the middle-class is getting the biggest part of it. We're bringing it back. We're simplifying it. We're bringing the rates way down." [Trump in Raleigh, NC 12/4/15]

REALITY: Under the Trump tax scam, the richest 5% of North Carolinians will receive 51% of the benefits in 2020 -- this just shows this was no middle-class tax cut. And while Trump promised "America First" and to keep jobs from leaving North Carolina, the tax scam actually incentivized companies to move jobs overseas:

* Walmart laid off 600 workers in North Carolina after getting billions of dollars in tax breaks from Trump's tax scam.

* Last year, two Charlotte-area manufacturers announced the closure of four plants that would lay off 368 workers.

CLAIM: At his campaign launch, Trump promised not to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. He said, "Save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it."

* Trump: "My administration is protecting your Social Security, your Medicare and is fighting to give you great health care, you're going to have great health care." [Trump Campaign Rally, Charlotte NC 3/220]

REALITY: Last year, Trump admitted that if re-elected, he wants to cut Social Security and Medicare. He said in response to a question about entitlements, "At the right time, we will take a look at that. You know, that's actually the easiest of all things... we'll be cutting, but we're also going to have growth like you've never had before."

Throughout his presidency, Trump has proposed hundreds of billions in budget cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. His last budget proposed cutting Medicaid spending by $920 billion, Medicare by $480 billion, and Social Security by $24 billion. His budget before that proposed cutting spending on Medicaid by $1.5 trillion, Medicare by $575 billion, and a $26 billion cut to Social Security. More than two million North Carolina residents rely on Social Security to stay afloat.

CLAIM: Donald Trump promised to look out for North Carolina's rural communities, but year after year he has pushed policies that hurt rural families.

* Trump: "Our farmers are thrilled and our farmers because of the 12 million and then 16 each year, 12 billion, and then 16 billion dollars, our farmers are in great shape. If I didn't do that with the target that China put on our farmers, we wouldn't have any farmers. And now they're doing great." [Trump North Carolina Tele-Rally - 8/11/20]

REALITY: From rural hospital closures to farm bankruptcies, North Carolina's rural communities are hurting.

* Farm bankruptcies jumped 20% in 2019, with 16 filings in North Carolina alone.

* Trump called for slashing USDA programs that support rural economies.

* Trump's budgets have called for deep cuts to farm safety net programs -- including crop insurance programs and premium subsidies.

* Trump called for cuts to conservation programs that help North Carolina farmers mitigate the effects of climate change and natural disasters.

CLAIM: Trump said he'd rid Washington, D.C. of corruption: "We're going to drain the swamp of corruption in Washington, DC. Drain the swamp."

REALITY: Trump's administration has embraced lobbyists and donors seeking favors with open arms, and halfway through his presidency it had hundreds of former lobbyists working in its ranks. Trump signed an executive order that included an ethics pledge that his appointees would not leave the public sector to become lobbyists -- but dozens have.