Memo: Trump’s Repeated Proposed Cuts to Medicare

February 10, 2020

This is getting repetitive, but it’s critically important to the 2020 election. Donald Trump just kept his streak alive by including cuts to Medicare in yet another one of his proposed budgets. As we have repeatedly written, Trump’s proposed cuts to Medicare and Social Security are among the highest-testing attacks on his record and most detrimental to his re-election chances. It doesn’t matter if this budget document will become law — it is an illustration of Trump’s priorities and true intentions despite his campaign rhetoric. Trump has repeatedly made it clear that it is a priority to cut these programs and we will be repeatedly letting voters know about it.

January 22nd Memo: Trump’s Huge Vulnerability on Social Security and Medicare

Let’s be clear about one thing: Trump’s position on cutting Social Security and Medicare will be featured in far more ads this year than the fact that he has been impeached.

Earlier this cycle, Priorities USA tested a battery of criticisms of Trump in a battleground poll and found the following language to be the most bothersome to voters when it comes to supporting Trump’s re-election:

Donald Trump promised to protect Medicare and Social Security, but his tax cuts for the wealthy increased the deficit dramatically, and now he wants to cut Medicare and Social Security to pay for it.”

With Trump scheduled to release a new budget in the near future, it is likely that the administration will continue to add more credence to this argument.

February 6th Memo: Democrats Must Focus on Kitchen Table Issues to Win in 2020

Priorities USA polling has consistently found that messages focused on health care, drug prices, wages and Medicare and Social Security are effective both at moving voters away from Trump and at galvanizing the Democratic base. Democrats in Congress should continue to do their constitutional duty to conduct oversight and hold the President accountable, but the focus on the campaign trail must be on communicating these messages to voters.

February 10th: WSJ: Trump to Propose $4.8 Trillion Budget With Big Safety-Net Cuts

The White House proposes to cut spending by $4.4 trillion over a decade. Of that, it targets $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programs, including $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, $292 billion from safety-net cuts—such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps—and $70 billion from tightening eligibility access to disability benefits.