“…no new wars,” “…not starting any wars,” “…end America’s endless wars.”
Those were the words spoken by Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign. Those were the words met with thunderous applause at his campaign rallies. Those were the words that helped him get elected. Those words are now not even blithely mentioned as sidebars. What is mentioned now is that it is not possible for the U.S. to pay for Medicare, Medicaid and day care because Trump says, “We are fighting wars.” (Note the plural.)
In his proposed 2027 budget, Trump’s Pentagon would get $1.5 trillion — trillion with a “tr” — purportedly because “We are fighting wars.” That is a reported $445 billion increase over the 2026 Pentagon appropriation, again because “We are fighting wars.” Where in his campaign did he say he would guarantee wars? Would his MAGA base have given him thunderous applause for those words? Maybe, maybe not.
CD3 Rep. Jeff Hurd supports Trump’s Iran war. Does he support the destruction of a whole civilization, as Trump threatened, and more wars — the ones Trump intimates will come? Trump says those would be funded by cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, programs that Hurd has repeatedly assured us he would not support cuts to. Any answers that dance around and do not directly say “No, I do not support that” must be taken as a “Yes.” In this election year, we, CD3 constituents, deserve to know Hurd’s positions, as they do not appear often in his newsletters.
Josh Joswick
Bayfield
