In recent days, Donald Trump has been using the homeless population – particularly in the blue states of New York and California – as a political weapon against Democrats.
He even cited homelessness as the reason he feels hatred for New York in a tasteless tweet just before the anti-Semitic Hanukkah stabbing over the weekend.
So sad to see that New York City and State are falling apart. All they want to do is investigate to make me hate them even more than I should. Governor Cuomo has lost control, and lost his mind. Very bad for the homeless and all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2019
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But a closer look at the facts surrounding homelessness in America indicates that it might not be a fight he wants to pick with the Democrats, especially if former Vice President Joe Biden is the nominee.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the homeless population has risen each year Trump has been in office – after plunging during the Obama-Biden administration.
Just last week, HUD reported a 2.7 percent increase in the nation’s homeless population – the third consecutive year that number has spiked.
Homeless families, individuals and veterans dropped drastically under Obama-Biden
Perhaps the reason why Donald Trump is throwing a tantrum about homelessness in parts of the country that don’t vote for him is that this is another area in which he isn’t able to measure up to Barack Obama.
According to the 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report – released just before Obama left office – nationwide homelessness fell across the board.
As CityLab pointed out, citing the report, “Since 2010, the nation has seen double-digit drops in homeless families (23 percent), individuals experiencing chronic homelessness (27 percent), and veteran homelessness (47 percent).”
It’s clear Donald Trump is trying to further deepen America’s divisions by weaponizing the poor, but this particular issue has gotten worse under his watch after the Obama-Biden administration handed him a homeless population in decline.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
