Washington, D.C. — Today, President Donald Trump will visit the Southern New Hampshire University Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he is likely to address a number of issues, including the opioid crisis, which has disproportionately affected the state.
In a new video released today from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Dean Lemire, a New Hampshire native and former addict who is now a recovery advocate recounts meeting with President Trump to address this issue. Lemire and other experts were invited to a roundtable on ways to combat the opioid crisis. As Lemire explains in the video, Trump showed complete disinterest then, and the policies of his administration proves that he still does not take this epidemic seriously.
In transcripts revealed by The Washington Post, President Trump said in January 2017, “I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.” His failure to understand the health struggles of addiction is evident.
Not only is his rhetoric offensive to New Hampshirites, but Trump has also been shockingly neglectful of the opioid crisis and pushed policies that would make the problem far worse. President Trump also repeatedly promised New Hampshire working families that his administration would provide better affordable health care, lower taxes, and increase wages for workers. In reality, his administration has failed to deliver on these promises—instead raising taxes for working families and attacking the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the courts, which, if successful, would strip coverage from more than 55,000 New Hampshirites and remove protections for the 572,200 New Hampshirites with preexisting conditions.
Click here to learn more about President Trump’s top broken promises to working families in New Hampshire.
4 facts on the Trump administration’s policy record in New Hampshire
Opioid epidemic
Promise:
President Trump promised New Hampshire families: “New Hampshire has a tremendous drug epidemic … and the people that are in trouble, the people that are addicted, we’re going to work with them and try and make them better. And we will make them better.”
Reality:
- In 2017, 425 people died from opioid overdoses in New Hampshire, giving the state the fourth-highest rate of opioid-related overdose deaths in the country.
- New Hampshire’s opioid death rate is more than twice the national average.
- Four times as many people in New Hampshire died from opioid overdoses than car accidents in 2017.
The Trump administration’s actions have done little to help:
- As a former addict and current recovery advocate, Lemire explains how the Trump administration has completely neglected what he and other experts in the opioid crisis advised to Trump during his 2016 campaign in New Hampshire.
- The Trump administration’s continued attempts to sabotage and repeal the ACA and its expansion of Medicaid, including a lawsuit moving through the courts right now, would devastate access to substance abuse treatment for millions.
- The Trump administration appointed 24-year-old Taylor Weyenth to run the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Weyenth graduated college only a few months before the 2016 election, and his only professional experience after graduating was on the Trump campaign.
- White House adviser and former pollster Kellyanne Conway was charged to lead the administration’s efforts on the opioid epidemic, freezing out career experts.
Health care
Promise:
President Trump promised New Hampshire families: “We are going to have health care at a fraction of the cost.”
Reality:
The Trump administration launched an all-out attack on our health care by trying to repeal and sabotage the ACA. If the ACA is repealed:
- 572,000 New Hampshirites with preexisting conditions will lose protections.
- 89,000 New Hampshirites will lose their health coverage.
- $3,790 will be the average annual premium increase for the average New Hampshire family in 2019.
Profits and wages
Promise:
President Trump promised New Hampshire families: “We’re going to stand up and defend our American workers.”
Reality:
The Trump administration has taken away safeguards that ensure workers are paid overtime, protect retirees from exploitative financial advisers, and ensure that people pay less at the gas pump. Due to the Trump administration’s policies, New Hampshirites will lose:
- $5 million in overtime wages
- $188 million in retirement savings
- $88 million at the gas pump
Taxes
Promise:
President Trump promised New Hampshire families: “We will massively cut taxes for the middle class.”
Reality:
Most of President Trump’s $2 trillion tax cut goes to corporations and the rich. Many New Hampshire families are getting stuck with the bill.
- 37,880 New Hampshire families paid more in taxes last year due to the Trump administration’s tax scam.
For more information on this topic or to talk to an expert, please contact Freedom Alexander Murphy at [email protected] or 202.796.9712.