WATCH A Trump Economic Adviser Get Shut Down By A Healthcare Question From A Coal Miner

Being a coal miner is one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the world. And now some coal miners are facing the loss of their health insurance unless the GOP-controlled Congress acts before April.

During the CNN show The Messy Truth Thursday evening, a retired coal miner named John Leach confronted Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore, telling him:

“I’ve been a United Mine Worker member for over 30 years. We worked in the coal mines producing the fuel that made America the most powerful nation on earth. The company I worked for went bankrupt, and now I will lose my heath benefits.”

The situation for Leach is complicated by the fact that he and his three children all suffer from a rare genetic disease known as Friedreich’s Ataxia. The condition is often fatal.

Leach then asked the Trump adviser:

“The federal government has guaranteed for 70 years coal miners like myself get our benefits, but now for the first time, the government may not live up to that moral commitment. Do you, sir, think that the U.S. government should honor the promises that were made to miners like myself?”

As you would expect, Moore didn’t directly address Leach’s issue, only managing to stammer out:

“I don’t know all the facts of—”

Then, Moore did his best to pretend he didn’t understand the question:

“I would ask you this question, sir. What happened to the money? Because you paid into the system, right? And I wonder what happened to the retirement heath care dollars that were supposed to be there for you when you retired. I don’t know the answer to that.”

Host Van Jones decided to enlighten the ignorant Stephen Moore, telling him:

“I’ll tell you what happened. What happened is, when fracking hit, it made coal more expensive and they were running into bankruptcy courts to discharge those obligations.”

Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he loves coal miners, will put them back to work, and will take care of them. But those are just words, and as much as Trump lies, they aren’t worth a damn thing. If coal companies want to screw over their workers, lay them off, declare bankruptcy and leave them without health insurance, Trump isn’t going to lift a finger to help the coal miners.

Here’s the segment from CNN:

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org

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