In response to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue’s appearance in Omaha today, Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb released the following statement:
“Whatever Perdue says today, he can’t spin Trump’s trail of broken promises to Nebraska farmers. This administration has spent nearly three years sparking erratic trade wars, blindly following orders from powerful corporate executives and ignoring the needs of struggling family farms,” Kleeb said. “We deserve a president who has our backs — not politicians who leave us hanging after election day.”
“The Trump Administration would rather pave the way for corporations to take farm land through eminent domain, kill farms with the tariff war and turn their backs on families facing suicide and bankruptcies,” Kleeb said. “Sonny Perdue has not yet shown his face in rural Nebraska since he cancelled his visit last summer to the Nebraska State Fair, knowing farmers are angry that he tells them that they need to go big or go home. It might be politically safe for Perdue to show up in Omaha, but rural Nebraska knows they’ve been forgotten and left behind by Trump and his allies.”
BACKGROUND ON TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES TO FARMERS
Promise: “We love our farmers. We’re taking care of our farmers.” [Make America Great Again Rally, South Bend IN, 5/10/18]
Reality: Trump proposed slashing $3.6 billion from the Department of Agriculture, including major cuts to farm safety net programs such as commodity subsidies and federal nutrition programs.
Promise: “It’s only going to get better because we’re doing trade deals that are going to get you so much business, you’re not even going to believe it.” [American Farm Bureau Federation Convention, New Orleans LA, 1/14/19]
Reality: Trump’s harmful and ineffective trade policies are projected to cost Nebraska farmers nearly $1 billion in 2019 alone.
Promise: “You have some great farms, I will — we’re going to protect our family farmers.” [Trump Campaign Rally, Cedar Rapids IA, 10/28/16]
Reality: Perdue recently questioned whether family farms will survive at all: “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out.”
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