The story isn’t what Donald Trump will say in West Virginia, but what he has already said. No matter what comes out of Trump’s mouthtonight, West Virginians need to know who he is: a man that was born on third base but thinks he hit a triple, and that doesn’t care at all about working class Americans.
What Trump said about coal miners:
“If I had been the son of a coal miner, I would have left the damn mines. But most people don’t have the imagination–or whatever–to leave their mine. They don’t have it.”
[Playboy Magazine, March 1990]
Trump’s freeze on the minimum wage:
“We’re not going to be able to compete against the world…we have to leave [the minimum wage] the way it is. People have to go out, they have to work really hard…”
[Boston.com,11/10/15]
“If you start raising that minimum wage, you’re going to make a lot of our companies even more non-competitive. And it would be a big, big problem.”
[Fox News Town Hall, Milwaukee, WI, 4/3/16]
Trump Bad For Coal Workers
Said Most People Don’t Have The “Imagination” To Leave The Coal Mines
Donald Trump: “If I Had Been The Son Of A Coal Miner, I Would Have Left The Damn Mines. But Most People Don’t Have The Imagination-Or Whatever-To Leave Their Mine. They Don’t Have ‘It.” According to an interview with Playboy Magazine, “What satisfaction, exactly, do you get out of doing a deal? [Donald Trump said] I love the creative process. I do what I do out of pure enjoyment. Hopefully, nobody does it better. There’s a beauty to making a great deal. It’s my canvas. And I like painting it. I like the challenge and tell the story of the coal miner’s son. The coal miner gets black-lung disease, his son gets it, then his son. If I had been the son of a coal miner, I would have left the damn mines. But most people don’t have the imagination-or whatever-to leave their mine. They don’t have ‘it.’” [Playboy Magazine, March 1990]
Trump’s Opposition to Fair Wages for American Workers
Trump Believed American Wages Were “Too High to Compete On Global Market”
Trump On Minimum Wage, 2015: “Taxes Too High, Wages Too High. We’re Not Going To Be Able To Compete Against The World.” According to Boston.com, “The Fox Business Republican Debate kicked off Tuesday night with a question about raising the minimum wage, as protesters across the country call for the floor to be raised to $15-an-hour. Donald Trump was the first candidate to answer. ‘Taxes too high, wages too high,’ said Trump, arguing it would damage the United States’ ability to compete internationally. ‘We’re not going to be able to compete against the world,’ he said. ‘I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. People have to go out, they have to work really hard, and they have to get into that upper stratum. But we cannot do this if we are going to compete with the rest of the world, we just can’t do it.’” [Boston.com, 11/10/15]
Trump Said That Wages In The U.S. Were “Too High.” “Neil Cavuto: Candidates, as we gather tonight in this very august theater, just outside and across the country, picketers are gathering as well. They’re demanding an immediate hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Just a few hours ago, near Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed doing the same for all state workers, the first governor to do so. Mr. Trump, as the leading presidential candidate on this stage and one whose tax plan exempts couples making up to $50,000 a year from paying any federal income taxes at all, are you sympathetic to the protesters cause since a $15 wage works out to about $31,000 a year? Donald Trump: I can’t be Neil. And the and the reason I can’t be is that we are a country that is being beaten on every front economically, militarily. There is nothing that we do now to win. We don’t win anymore. Our taxes are too high. I’ve come up with a tax plan that many, many people like very much. It’s going to be a tremendous plan. I think it’ll make our country and our economy very dynamic. But, taxes too high, wages too high, we’re not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. People have to go out, they have to work really hard and have to get into that upper stratum. But we can not do this if we are going to compete with the rest of the world. We just can’t do it.” [Fox Business Debate, Milwaukee, WI, 11/10/15]
2015: Trump Opposed Minimum Wage Increase
Trump, 2015: “I Don’t Want To Raise The Minimum Wage.” According to The Hill, “He wouldn’t go into specifics, but promised he would create jobs if elected president. ‘I don’t want to raise the minimum wage. I want to create jobs so people can get much more than that, so they can get five times what the minimum wage is,’ said Trump.” [The Hill, 7/23/15]
Said That Instead Of Minimum Wage Increase That People Needed To “Work Really Hard”
Trump On His Opposition To Minimum Wage Increase, 2015: “People Have To Go Out, They Have To Work Really Hard.” According to Boston.com, “‘We’re not going to be able to compete against the world,” he said. “I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. People have to go out, they have to work really hard, and they have to get into that upper stratum. But we cannot do this if we are going to compete with the rest of the world, we just can’t do it.’” [Boston.com, 11/10/15]
Published: May 5, 2016