In the News
By Donald Norcross
April 11, 2025
Credit: NJ Spotlight News
The chaos and confusion that President Trump and Elon Musk create every day is hurting American families, and their latest plan to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will quite literally rip away health care and retirement benefits from our seniors.
Trump and Musk started this assault weeks ago by firing critical staff who answer your phone calls about Social Security and deliver these lifesaving programs, making benefits much harder to access. Then, House Republicans handed them exactly what they’ve been waiting for: a budget plan that guts Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
If that doesn’t convince you of their plans, just listen to what they say about these programs in public. Trump has said that Social Security is “a scam, the whole thing is a scam.” And, when discussing Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, Musk said “that’s the big one to eliminate.” It’s clear as day that they are going to war against our seniors to give tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthiest Americans.
Trump and Musk claim that they are getting rid of waste, fraud and abuse, but retirement benefits and health care are not waste. Our parents and grandparents should be able to retire with dignity, and that includes being able to afford medication, at-home care and access the Social Security benefits they worked for and earned.
These programs are lifelines for millions of Americans across the country, including hundreds of thousands of families and seniors in South Jersey. If all goes according to the Trump-Musk plan, too many of our neighbors and loved ones will be hurt. That includes nearly 165,000 enrolled in Medicaid, 153,000 who receive Social Security benefits, 151,000 enrolled in Medicare and 97,000 who use food benefits.
President Trump and Elon Musk have never had to worry about putting food on the table or affording their medical bills so it’s no wonder they don’t care about taking these programs away from you. That’s why I have been on the front lines fighting back, at rallies, town halls and sharing stories about how Trump’s actions will negatively impact you and your family.
President Obama once reminded us that “change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek.” I will fight to create that change. I will work to prevent the richest people in the world from taking away Social Security and Medicare — our hard-earned benefits — and other vital programs that Americans rely on. And I’m not backing down.