The gains in the stock market that the president touts haven’t helped average Americans, she says.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night that Republicans are not helping average Americans by improving health care — and she brought up the president’s impeachment.
Whitmer, 48, noted how she juggled working a new job while caring for her newborn daughter and her mother, who had brain cancer.
“It was hard. It exposed the harsh realities of our workplaces, our health care system and our child care system. And it changed me,” she said.
Whitmer said that, as a state senator, she worked with a Republican governor and Legislature to expand health care coverage to more than 680,000 Michigan residents.
“It’s pretty simple. Democrats are trying to make your health care better. Republicans in Washington are trying to take it away,” she said.
Whitmer reiterated several times that the GOP-controlled Senate is blocking proposals passed by House Democrats. She also suggested that voters should consider how senators vote on Wednesday when they take a vote that’s expected to result in Trump’s acquittal.
“As we witness the impeachment process in Washington there are some things each of us — no matter our party — should demand. The truth matters. Facts matter. And no one should be above the law,” she said. “It’s not what those senators say tomorrow, it’s what they do that matters.”
Throughout her remarks, Whitmer referred to Democratic governors across the U.S., such as Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly “working across the aisle to bring Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands” and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham who “enshrined ACA protections into state law.”
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Article URL : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/michigan-gov-whitmer-democratic-response-trump-s-state-union-says-n1130286