Today marks one year since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term.
Without a doubt, things under this administration have gotten worse by the day.
Masked and armed ICE agents are terrorizing our neighborhoods, reproductive freedom is under attack, and costs keep going up and up and up.
Trump is reckless, he’s cruel, and he’s making life harder for working people every single day. I can’t stand him.
But here’s something most Democrats won’t tell you: Donald Trump didn’t create our problems.
The truth is, the system was rigged against working people long before Trump ever showed up. Wages were already falling behind. Healthcare was out of reach. Childcare was unaffordable. Prescription drugs cost a fortune. Nursing homes were closing — we’ve lost nearly 40% of our nursing homes here in Maine — and all this started before Trump.
Yes, Trump has made all of it worse. No question. But too many politicians want to pretend that if we just get through this, things can go back to normal. My opponents in this race have actually said, “Once Trump’s gone, things will be fine.”
But I don’t want to just go back to the way things were. And I don’t believe everything will get better overnight. Things were broken before Trump, and they’ll stay broken unless we’re willing to challenge the status quo that failed working people in the first place.
I’ve spent my career fighting to make life better for the working class. Affordable healthcare, lower prescription drug costs, real support for caregivers, dignity for seniors.
And I’ve been blocked time and time again. Not just by Republicans, but by Democrats, too. Governors who didn’t understand how hard it is to live paycheck to paycheck. Leaders who were more comfortable preserving the system than fixing it.
That’s why I’m running for governor.
Because I’m tired of being told that it’s not the right time, all while people can’t afford to put food on the table, can’t find a safe, quality nursing home bed for their parents, and can’t pay their medical bills.
Trump is a problem, but deeper than that is a system that keeps working people stuck while the people at the top stay comfortable.
This campaign isn’t just about opposing Trump. It’s about building something better than what we had before him.
A Maine where working people finally come first — that’s the fight I’m in. And if you’re in it with me, I hope you’ll chip in $15, $20, or whatever you can to help us build a campaign that’s actually about changing people’s lives — not just changing the name at the top.
