LACDP Chair Mark Ramos' statement following the passage of Prop 50

Happy Wednesday, Democrats. Welcome back to our #TrumpCheck series, the LACDP's newsletter that holds the Trump administration accountable for its lies, deception, and self-serving actions. 

Over the summer, Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition among older adults that indicates poor circulation and damaged veins in the arms and legs. 

While the condition itself is non-life-threatening, Trump's health does seem to be in decline overall. A November 25th article from The New York Times titled "Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office," has received backlash from the President. In a rambling 488-word Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump declared that “After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.’ They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it.”

The New York Times made it clear today "that it wouldn’t be deterred by 'false and inflammatory language' that distorts the role of a free press," as reported by CNN. 

Ultimately, it seems that Trump is particularly sensitive to criticism of his cognitive abilities as a 79-year-old, the oldest person to be elected to the office of the President. So today, we decided that Trump has earned his own #TrumpCheck of some of the times that he has contradicted himself in front of the cameras. 

• In 2018, Trump made his infamous and controversial remarks in a closed-door meeting about not wanting any more immigrants from "shithole countries" to be admitted into the US. In a post on then-Twitter, he vaguely denied ever using the term. "The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used."

FACT:  In a speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Trump admitted that he absolutely called African countries, like Somalia, "shitholes," grouping them with countries he refers to as "hellholes" like Afghanistan and Haiti. "He mentioned that during a meeting during his first term with lawmakers, he posed a question: 'Why is it we only take people from sh*t-hole countries? Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden? Just a few. Let us have a few. From Denmark?" as reported by CNN. 

It seems that he feels confident in his racist, xenophobic language now, not ashamed of it as he pretended to be almost 10 years ago. 

• On December 3rd, Trump had an exchange with an ABC reporter about "releasing video of the 2nd strike on the suspected drug boat in the Caribbean Sea that killed survivors." He said, "I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’d certainly release, no problem" (You can see for yourself at the 00:40 mark in this video).

FACT: Trump denied this comment, only 5 days after he said it. On Monday, December 8th, when another reporter repeated back to Trump his previous promises, he said, "I didn’t say that. That’s – you said that, I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news." 

• At a news conference held at the White House on December 2nd, Trump touted his health and vitality. "I think I am sharper than I was 25 years ago." 

FACT: About 15 minutes after saying that, Trump fell asleep during a cabinet meeting on-camera. 

Oh Donald. If this is sharper than 25 years ago, what kind of condition were you in 2000? 

Trump cannot keep straight what he has lied about at this point. Now he can't even keep his eyes open, either. 

The first step in fighting back against the Trump administration is setting the record straight; correcting misinformation is a job for us all. If you had this email forwarded, you can sign up for the #TrumpCheck newsletter here. 

Stay safe, stay strong, and keep up the good fight, Democrats. 

We'll be back at defending the truth next week. Until then, stay tuned to our social media channels, linked below, for updates on the LACDP's fight against Trump.

In Solidarity,  

Team LACDP   

P.S. Tickets for the Chair's Holiday Party are still on sale! Buy your tickets today before they sell out! 

Happy Friday, Democrats. Welcome back to our #TrumpCheck series, the LACDP's newsletter that holds the Trump administration accountable for its lies, deception, and self-serving actions. 

While the headlines have been dominated by raccoons, ill-advised 'Color of the Year' choices, and music trends over the past few days, the Trump administration is hard at work destroying vaccination care for babies and ensuring that only the billionaires can afford their homes. 

In last week's #TrumpCheck, we addressed how Trump is increasing the cost of some of the holiday basics in the United States. Not tinsel and gift wrap - food and energy for our homes. Well, this week, he doubled down on making America unaffordable again, which is why we are here to unpack some of Trump's lies about affordability, unemployment, and how he is working to ensure that wealth and prosperity stay within the circle of elites he roams in. 

• A White House web page titled "Economy," boasts that "President Trump has created nearly 500,000 jobs since taking office, with all net job growth coming from the private sector and going to native-born Americans."

FACT:  Layoff announcements surpassed 1.1 million in 2025, the most since the 2020 pandemic. As for Trump's beloved 'private sector' jobs, "ADP reported Wednesday that private employers cut 32,000 jobs in November, the biggest decline in more than 2½ years."

Trump can't even get his rich tech CEO buddies to create jobs, and his economic policies certainly aren't creating jobs elsewhere.

• While on a campaign stop in Montana on August 9, 2024, Trump described how “Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.” A White House web page from November 12th boasts that "Day by day, President Trump is Making America Affordable Again!"

FACT: During Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Trump contradicted himself, saying that “The word ‘affordability’ is a Democrat scam,” while describing his economic plans and 'achievements.' JD Vance puffed up the future economic plans, saying that “2026 is going to be the year when this economy really takes off.”

So much for 'making America affordable again' on day 1.

• Digging in during Tuesday's Cabinet meeting about the cost of living, Trump said that “Just about everything is down." He continued, that of Democrats, “They use the word affordability — it’s a Democrat hoax. They’re the ones who drove the prices up.”

FACT: Trump isn't fooling anybody. Even Trump's own supporters know that there is a cost-of-living crisis in the United States, and that he's the cause of it. New polling from Politico indicates that almost half of Americans say the "cost of living in the U.S. is the worst they can ever remember it being, a view held by 37 percent of 2024 Trump voters."

Although he might try to blame the cost of living on Democrats, it isn't working. Most Americans believe that the economy and cost of living are entirely Trump's responsibility and fault, including one in five of Trump's own supporters.

Trump's own die-hard base doesn't even trust him anymore! 

While Americans everywhere work hard for themselves and each other to provide a warm home with food on the table, Trump is working to line the pockets of his friends, his family, and himself. We are all standing up against it, one step at a time. 

The first step in fighting back against the Trump administration is setting the record straight; correcting misinformation is a job for us all. If you had this email forwarded, you can sign up for the #TrumpCheck newsletter here. 

Stay safe, stay strong, and keep up the good fight, Democrats. 

We'll be back at defending the truth next week. Until then, stay tuned to our social media channels, linked below, for updates on the LACDP's fight against Trump.

In Solidarity,  

Team LACDP   

P.S. Tickets for the Chair's Holiday Party are still on sale! Buy your tickets today before they sell out! 

Happy Thanksgiving! Welcome back to our #TrumpCheck series, the LACDP's newsletter that holds the Trump administration accountable for its lies, deception, and self-serving actions. 

Today, millions of Americans will open their homes and tables to their loved ones for Thanksgiving, to share turkey, gravy, and pie in celebration of what they are thankful for. Here at the LACDP, we're grateful for the ongoing probes into Trump's connections to late sex trafficker & convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. I'm willing to bet Trump isn't quite as thankful for that as we are. 

In all three of his campaigns for President, Donald Trump touted his economic promises as opportunities to buoy struggling Americans, something that would be particularly valuable in the holiday months as temperatures drop and necessary costs rise. However, in both of his presidencies, he seems to conveniently forget these promises once he has the opportunity to line his own pockets further.

In honor of today's holiday, we are going to unpack some of Trump's promises on the basics. Food on the table, a warm home, clean air to breathe... some of the things many will express gratitude for on Thanksgiving, that Trump has put in jeopardy for millions of people as he continues to get richer. 

• A White House report issued on November 6th cites that "President Donald J. Trump promised to crush inflation and lower prices — and he’s delivering this Thanksgiving ... Americans are seeing across-the-board price declines for the holiday staples." 

FACT: The cost of food is actually higher than last year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of food for American consumers is up 2.7% from last year.

Marketing ploys from grocery chains (or the White House) that describe grocery costs as decreasing for Thanksgiving foods, are swapping out ingredients and dishes, switching brands, and shrinking portion sizes, in an attempt to portray costs as going down. 

As described by the New York Times, "The White House and the retailers don’t explain that the cheaper Thanksgiving meals for sale differ markedly from what they offered last year. It’s similar to comparing apples to oranges, or in this case, corn muffin mix to mac and cheese."

• At a campaign stop in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in August of 2024, Trump emphasized one of his primary promises as a candidate: “We’re going to get your energy prices down. We’re going to get your energy prices down by 50%.”

FACT: It seems like Trump might have gotten increasing prices mixed up with bringing them down! Electricity prices have increased by 40% since February 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In part, costs have increased so much due to new demand for powering AI data centers, thanks to Trump's push for deregulation for his AI company donors/buddies.

• On Earth Day this year, April 22nd, the White House released an article about how Trump is the leader of environmental protection in the United States. "Under President Donald J. Trump, America is back — leveraging environmental policies rooted in reality to promote economic growth while maintaining the standards that have afforded Americans the cleanest air and water in the world for generations."

FACT: On Monday, Trump led the EPA to abandon the soot standards for air protection that prevent "asthma attacks, heart disease, and early death—especially in vulnerable communities." The Washington Post headline describes it as "EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths."

The move vacates strict standards that the Biden presidency strengthened to limit air pollution, particularly from smaller pollutants like soot. Soot is one of the nation's deadliest forms of air pollution.  The World Health Organization cites that air pollution is responsible for 6.7 million premature deaths a year. 

While Americans everywhere work hard for themselves and each other to provide a warm home with food on the table, Trump is working to line the pockets of his friends, his family, and himself. We are all standing up against it, one step at a time. 

The first step in fighting back against the Trump administration is setting the record straight; correcting misinformation is a job for us all. If you had this email forwarded, you can sign up for the #TrumpCheck newsletter here. 

Stay safe, stay strong, and keep up the good fight, Democrats. 

We'll be back at defending the truth next week. Until then, stay tuned to our social media channels, linked below, for updates on the LACDP's fight against Trump.

In Solidarity,  

Team LACDP   

P.S. Tickets for the Chair's Holiday Party are on sale now! Buy your tickets today before they sell out!