Trump talks cuts, presidential race at town hall
At
Trump reiterated that to reduce the national debt, he must cut entitlement programs.
"Oh, we will be cutting," Trump said in response to a question from a moderator. "But we're also going to have growth like you have never had before."
It wasn't entirely clear whether the president was referring to mandatory spending programs or discretionary federal spending, but he said trade deals would be key to the growth he predicted.
The town hall, which aired on the
Health care also was a big topic, with questions asked about Trump's plan for President
"We need to get rid of Obamacare, but we can't," Trump said. "We need to take back the House."
That brought cheers from the audience as Trump explained that his administration has gotten rid "of the bad parts of Obamacare" and has been managing the "good parts."
"But we have several plans -- all that guarantee allowing for preexisting conditions -- that will be better and more affordable for the American public," Trump said. "But to do that,
Coronavirus
The opening question dealt with the coronavirus and what plans are being considered on a federal level for the possibility of a long-term disruption.
The number of the confirmed cases in the
"We have 149 cases as of this moment," Trump said. "This morning, it was 129. There are 100,000 cases all over the world. So we're really given tremendous marks for having made the decision to close down the borders, so that people from
Trump added, "Everybody has to be calm. It's all going to work out. We hope it doesn't last too long."
Other questions dealt with illegal immigration, the economy, the 2020 presidential race and more. When asked about the increase in the national debt, Trump responded, "I had to save our military. I'll focus on the debt in my second term."
Trump, who admits to being a germaphobe, said he's gotten over his aversion to hand-shaking, even during the age of the coronavirus.
"You can't be a politician and not shake hands," he said. "The bottom line is I shake anybody's hand now. I'm proud of it."
2020 race
Trump said he was prepared to run against
That would leave a race between Trump and former Vice President
Trump said had Sen.
Trump won
"This area of
"So you know, we're very happy about that. The people in
Regarding his confrontational style of name-calling political opponents -- "Sleepy Joe" for Biden, and "Crazy Bernie," Trump had an answer.
"When they hit us, we have to hit back," Trump said. "I really feel that. You can't turn your cheek."
Trump did take a few shots at Biden, questioning the former vice president's son Hunter regarding his service on the board of an energy company in the
Trump also poked at Biden's support of the North American Free Trade Agreement, calling it "the worst trade deal ever made."
Trump also called the impeachment process "fake."
Other key issues
Environment: "Our
Immigration: " Well, you know, it's been hard, but we have done it incredibly. We have ended catch and release. And, most importantly, the wall is under construction. We're up to 129 miles already. Where we have a wall, by the way, nobody's coming through, practically nobody. We will have, by early next year, almost 500 miles of wall. And once we have that wall, it's going to stop drugs."
Uniting the country:
Trump said, "Politicians have to be able to be civil. If they're not, you have to fight back. You have to. Otherwise we're not going to be. There's a movement on, and I call them the radical left
"I really believe we're going to win this next election, and when we do the other side's going to say, OK, let's get along. I really believe that. But we have to win the election."
Casey responds
In a conversation with the Times Leader on Thursday night,
First, Casey said more than 50,000 residents -- 30,000 in
"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."
Casey said Trump is proposing cutting Medicare by half a trillion dollars over 10 years and cutting Medicaid by more than 900 billion over the same time period.
"That's nearly
Casey also disagreed with the president's comment that
"He can take action now," Casey said. "That way, nobody would have to worry about not having health care coverage because of a preexisting condition."
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