Maddow Reveals Trump Cut Off Health Care For Sick Baby Nephew To Boost His Own Inheritance

In the introduction to her exclusive interview with Donald Trump’s niece on Thursday, Rachel Maddow dug up a stunning piece of reporting about something Trump did to his sick nephew in the midst of a legal dispute over his father’s will.

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Citing a New York Daily News report from two decades ago, Maddow pointed out that Trump threatened to cut off health benefits for his sick baby nephew as a way to get more money out of Fred Trump’s estate.

According to the report, the nephew had a “severe seizure disorder” and the Trump company had initially promised to pay all costs related to the child’s medical needs.

But when the president’s father passed away, Trump threatened to cut off these benefits for his ailing nephew if he didn’t get a bigger portion of the estate.

“George Washington couldn’t lie about whether or not he cut down the cherry tree. JFK had PT-109. Eisenhower saved the free world from the Nazis,” Maddow said. “For Donald Trump, there is that time he cut off health insurance to his baby boy nephew with a severe seizure disorder as a hardball legal tactic against his relatives so he could get his share of their money. ”

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Maddow said:

Asked in an interview with the Daily News whether he thought cutting this health coverage could appear coldhearted given the baby’s medical condition, Donald told the New York Daily News that he made no apologies. He said, ‘I can’t help that.’ And George Washington couldn’t lie about whether or not he cut down the cherry tree, JFK had PT-109, Eisenhower saved the free world from the Nazis. All presidents have back stories, what they do to get them to the White House. It’s part of their lore. It’s part of why the country choose them to lead. For Donald Trump, there is that time he cut off health insurance to his baby boy nephew with a severe seizure disorder as a hardball legal tactic against his relatives so he could get his share of their money. ‘I cannot tell a lie,’ says George Washington about the cherry tree. ‘I can’t help that,’ says Donald Trump so he can inherit his relative’s share of his dad’s money in addition to the millions dollars he was already getting from his dad’s estate.

Now he’s trying to kick millions of Americans off their insurance

In a way, the idea that Donald Trump would take away health insurance for his sick nephew in order to enrich himself isn’t all that surprising.

After all, since he became president, the American people have seen him commit one abuse of power after another, all to enrich himself financially or politically.

On health care specifically, Trump isn’t treating the American people any differently than he treated his sick family member 20 years ago. In the middle of a pandemic, the he is attempting to kick more than 20 million people off their insurance plans.

This is who Donald Trump has always been: a man who will never put his family or his country before himself.

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Sean Colarossi

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.