Meals on Wheels-reliant Trump voter hears some bad news

Last week, the White House released its budget plan and shocked even those with low expectations, as it sought to slash funding for programs that support the poor and the elderly. One of those programs will be Meals on Wheels, which President Donald Trump‘s budget director Mick Mulvaney claimed just wasn’t “getting results.”

One Trump voter’s reaction to the prospect of losing a service she’s relied on for two years is going viral. Fifty-six-year-old Linda Preast, who voted for Trump, signed up for Meals on Wheels after having a stroke that left her in a wheelchair. When asked if she was surprised by Trump’s plan to cut funding for the program, Preast answered that she was, because she “was under the influence that he was going to help us.”

“What would you tell him to convince him not to cut this program?” CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller asked.

“What if it was your momma?” Preast answered.

It’s worth noting that while the Community Development Block Grants which fund Meals on Wheels cost a total of $3 billion in 2017, Meals on Wheels claims that it saves the country an estimated $34 billion every year in healthcare costs, namely by giving 2.4 million senior citizens, 500,000 veterans, and many who are too sick to leave their houses and get food, access to nutritious meals.

Regardless of who they voted for, it’s tragic what’s happening to the poor and elderly who believed Trump would make their lives better. But perhaps recent events have started to open their eyes and prepare them for the next election.

Watch the report from CBS News in the video below:

Editor’s note: According to Snopes.com, the Meals on Wheels program “receives the bulk of its funding from sources other than the CDBG; the effect of CDBG cuts on local Meals on Wheels groups is uncertain.”

Featured image via screen grab