Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee got a thorough fact-check online today when he tried to counter a Democratic colleague on the impact healthcare cuts from the Trump administration have had on rural clinics and hospitals.
Lee was responding to comments made by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who is running for reelection in November.
At a campaign rally over the weekend, Ossoff said, “Trump was supposed to fight for the working class; instead, he’s literally closing rural clinics and hospitals to cut taxes for George Soros and Elon Musk.”
That led Lee to respond, “I challenge anyone making this absurd accusation to name one rural hospital or clinic Trump has closed—either ‘to cut taxes for George Soros and Elon Musk’ or otherwise. No one can This is not a thing.”
Problem is, it’s very much a thing, and it’s taking place across the country, as Fortune recently reported:
“For more than two decades, Susan Bushby, a 70-year-old housekeeper from a rural ski town in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, took comfort in knowing she only had a short drive to reach the community health center.”
“The lodgelike medical building, which sits on a hill overlooking town, was like a second home for Bushby and many other patients. The front desk staff knew their names and never missed a chance to celebrate a birthday or anniversary. Staff photos of the wilderness that makes this place such a draw hung on the walls, and bumping into a neighbor in the waiting room was routine.”
“But last month, this site of the Ammonoosuc Community Health Services in Franconia, a town of around 1,000 people, closed for good.”
“Officials blamed cuts in Medicaid, the federal program that millions of low-income Americans rely on for health care. The 1,400 patients, almost half of them older and some facing serious health challenges like cancer and early stage dementia, must now drive at least 10 miles (16 kilometers) along rural roads to reach the nearest health center, which also is near a regional hospital. A second center is twice as far.”
Lee was also corrected online.
Mikey, you’re a jackass, and your “facts” are as bogus as you.
