Fox News host: Katie Britt’s ‘motherly way’ needed to explain Trump Medicaid cuts
Following the Senate’s passage of President Donald Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill, Fox News host Todd Piro had a piece of advice for Republicans.
“It’s very difficult to message on Medicaid,” Piro said, referencing the bill’s $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, that would impose work requirements on able-bodied people, including some parents and older Americans, making sign-up eligibility more stringent and changing federal reimbursements to states.
“And that’s why I do have some advice for the Republican party,” Piro continued.
“Send out Katie Britt, the senator from Alabama.”
Piro pointed to Britt’s weekend interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union‚” as an example of how Republicans should disseminate information about the bill’s spending cuts.
“I heard her over the weekend explaining, in a better way than I think many of the-I’m not trying to make this a gender thing- but many of the older male representatives did,” Piro said.
In Sunday’s appearance, Tapper asked Britt to talk about how the bill could impact her constituents in Alabama, while noting that nearly 760,000 people in the state rely on Medicaid and more than 700,000 people (including 330,000 children) rely on food stamps.
“So when you look at Medicaid. Children, obviously, we have the Children’s Health Insurance Program,” replied Britt, noting the program that provides insurance for children up to age 18.
“So, children are absolutely not touched by this.”
“The same thing when it comes to SNAP benefits,” she added.
“What we’re talking about is able-bodied, working-aged Americans without dependents in home. Having them work, train, volunteer, in some capacity 20 hours a week in order to receive those government benefits.”
Piro applauded Britt’s “motherly” response.
“She explained, in a really kind, motherly way, as she is a mother, that look, we’re removing the Medicaid, temporarily, for people who have determined that they do not want to get a job or even engage in the simplest act of trying to get a job,” he said.
But opponents of the bill in Alabama have said these cuts will cause a devastating ripple effect throughout the state that expands even beyond those receiving Medicaid or SNAP benefits.
Rhonda Mann, executive director of VOICES for Alabama’s Children said cuts to Medicaid could close rural hospitals already struggling and cuts to SNAP could drastically impact retailers whose customers buy products with those benefits.
And Rev. Valtoria Jackson of the Alabama Poor People’s Campaign, said at a recent conference that the ramifications of this bill go deeper than the 1s and 0s.
“It is a moral document, “ she said.
“And in its current form, it will deepen poverty, strip vital support from our most vulnerable neighbors, and cost Alabama lives right here in Alabama.”
The bill is currently being debated in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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