A special guest accompanied Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan of Virginia to last night’s joint session between President Donald Trump and Congress.
Jeanne Robinson of Henrico County is able to care for her disabled grandson and not sacrifice her family’s financial stability thanks to Medicaid. But Robinson will suffer because of the Trump Administration’s policies.
“Tonight, I had hoped to hear President Trump put the needs of the American people above politics. That’s not what we got. Instead, Trump spent two hours spewing lies and stoking bigotry and division,” McClellan said after the address in a statement.
She said Trump made his priorities clear for making billionaires richer and to squash dissent, as well as to bow down to foreign adversaries.
“Despite his claims tonight, this administration — and Elon Musk — haven’t saved the American people a dime. Instead, they are engaged in a slash and burn attack on federal workers and the essential services they provide such as health care, food security, veterans benefits and more. Trump’s tariffs and economic policies will raise prices on everything from groceries to gasoline, toys to technology, and housing to healthcare,” McClellan said.
She said that lawmakers should not abandon families like Robinson’s and strip more than 80 million Americans of programs.
“It’s not who we are, and we will fight back,” she said.
Robinson has experience as a therapist and social worker, but left her job as an In-Home Counselor during the COVID-19 pandemic to care for her si6-year-old grandson, who has Down syndrome.
In a video posted to McClellan’s social media account, Robinson said: “I’m here because I’m concerned about the Medicaid cuts that I know would affect my family. I’m concerned because if it’s cut, it’s going to cause a lot of problems for my grandson. He won’t be able to get his care.”
Robinson said the potential for cuts to Medicaid is “very scary. I have clients who are still in touch with me. They’re concerned about their mental health because they have medicine that they might not be able to get. So these cuts will really, really set the people I know back.”
Last week, Republicans voted to advance a budget resolution that would cut $880 billion from Medicaid. Not a single Democrat voted for the measure.
“Every day, tens of thousands of home care workers across Virginia deliver high-quality services to our loved ones who are aging or living with disabilities. Medicaid supports these workers’ livelihoods and the very lives of the people they care for. Cutting Medicaid in order to fund tax giveaways for the rich would devastate countless families across the commonwealth. I invited Jeanne as my guest because I wanted the president and my colleagues across the aisle to put a face to the people who would be harmed by their plans to decimate health care,” McClellan said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
