Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Donald Trump’s Corruption And Self-Enrichment As Americans Face A Looming Healthcare Crisis Due To Republican Policies
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on Donald Trump using his time as president to personally enrich himself and his donors as Americans across the country are facing the grim reality of rising costs and healthcare premiums. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
We are staring into the abyss of the healthcare crisis here in America, and what is Donald Trump doing as we stare into the abyss of the healthcare crisis? He’s flying off yet again to another corner of the world, while people’s premiums are set to skyrocket here at home.
He’s shut down the government, Trump has, for 23 days – the second longest shutdown ever – by refusing to negotiate with Democrats.
He's bulldozing the East Wing of the White House to make way for his own ballroom. His own Justice Department is getting ready to cut him a personal check, for $230 million out of taxpayer money when people are suffering in terms of their healthcare premiums. And he got caught trying to push a nominee with proud Nazi and racist views.
And again, we are in the middle of a healthcare crisis that will decimate tens of millions of Americans, but Donald Trump doesn’t seem to want to touch this topic with a ten-foot pole, and has decided to fly off to another country yet again without negotiating with Democrats.
Leader Jeffries and I asked him to sit down and talk with us. We said we need to talk. He refused. Donald Trump would literally rather fly to another country than meet with Democrats to negotiate on healthcare, because he knows the American people are on one side of the issue and his base, his right-wing MAGA base, is on the other. He’s afraid to touch the issue. So, he does his version of Speaker Johnson shutting down the House – he flies away.
It's hard to fathom someone more out of touch and oblivious to our nation's struggles than the current president. Let's take the ballroom, for instance. This floor chart of the East Wing shows the image Donald Trump doesn’t want America to see. This is the picture Donald Trump told his people to hide from the American people.
And do you know what this picture represents? It’s not just the desecration of the White House, it shows that Donald Trump is not focused on fixing healthcare, but rather on vanity projects, like this one, that don’t do anything to benefit the American people. They only benefit Trump and his ego.
Donald Trump is telling the American people: no Medicaid for you, ballroom for me.
Americans are appalled at these images. A YouGov poll this week found that 50% of Americans oppose this ballroom project, only 33% in support. To Americans, the image of Donald Trump taking a wrecking ball to the White House is a symbol for what he’s doing to the whole country. Yes, this image Americans are seeing, and they don't like it. I ask my Republican colleagues – where are you?
But frankly, the East Wing teardown is not the only thing Donald Trump is focused on instead of fixing healthcare. He’s also using the presidency to enrich himself.
This week, we learned that Donald Trump is pushing his own DOJ to write him a $230 million dollar check, because his feelings got hurt after being investigated for criminal wrongdoing. While Americans are agonizing over healthcare, Donald Trump is using the presidency to reach into the taxpayer’s till to put money in his own pocket.
Imagine the gall of this President who tells the American people: no healthcare for you, but you pay me an additional $230 million. Again, I ask my Republican colleagues – where are you? I don’t expect Republicans to oppose Donald Trump very often, but they should be outraged – outraged – by the way he is pillaging the DOJ to enrich himself.
And finally, Americans are getting awfully fed up with the Trump Administration’s incompetence, corruption, and chaos – and the data shows it. A few days ago, a Gallup poll showed movement that you rarely ever see among the electorate in a short amount of time: Democrats' party ID is now seven points higher. It was even with Republicans. When the poll asked if people identify as Democrat or Republican now, versus when Trump took office, it’s now plus seven Democrat. You rarely see that kind of movement for that kind of number so quickly.
It should be an immediate red-light-warning to my Republican colleagues. To quote the pollster Harry Enten, who works with CNN: “I was shocked to see how Dems have gained on Party ID per Gallup. Dems lead by seven points versus a tie at the start of the year. Looks a lot more like the 2018 cycle than 2022. Indeed, Democrats have gained House seats in all midterms since 1990 when party ID looks like what Gallup has.” That’s Harry Enten, not me.
But you don’t need to be a political genius to understand why these numbers are moving. People see that Donald Trump is making their lives worse on costs, on healthcare, on their financial security. We spend so much time here in Washington focused on the day-to-day back and forth, but people back don’t care about the back and forth here in Washington. They care about how much they’re paying for groceries. They care about their rising electricity bills. They care about the dramatic increase so many will pay in their healthcare premiums very soon.
What has Donald Trump done while all of this is happening? While people are just sitting down at the dinner table on Friday nights and wondering how the heck am I going to pay the bills? He’s enacted the biggest healthcare cuts in American history. He’s closing rural hospitals. Americans can see with their own eyes what Donald Trump is doing.
So, I say to my Republican colleagues – beware. This Gallup poll is a warning that Americans are fed up with high costs that go up each week and the Trump administration’s incompetence, corruption, and chaos. And it’s only going to get worse the more Donald Trump doubles down on this shutdown and on his failed policies.
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