“GASLIGHTING AT ITS FINEST”: Mike Lawler Blatantly Lies About His Devastating Health Care Cuts in New Campaign Ad

Despite proudly voting to enact the largest Medicaid cut in history and putting over 210,000 New Yorkers at risk of losing health care coverage, Lawler’s new ad baselessly claims he “saved [New Yorkers] from the cuts” and they “still have [their] insurance intact.”

Now, New Yorkers are slamming the phony ad as “gaslighting at its finest” and calling out Lawler for “working for powerful special interests, and [his] own political career,” not Hudson Valley families.

To top it off, Lawler and his campaign declined to comment when asked by press, making it crystal clear that he knows he’s lying to his constituents.

DCCC Spokesperson Riya Vashi:
“Only Mike Lawler would have the gall to tell New Yorkers they’re ‘OK’ after he kicked nearly half a million of them off their health care. This is who Lawler has always been: a career political operative looking out for his party bosses and donors, not his constituents. New Yorkers see right through Lawler’s bullshit and will hold him accountable in November.”

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Hudson Valley Digger: Democrats howl over Lawler health-care ad that proclaims: ‘He has saved us from the cuts and you still have your insurance intact. You don’t have any cuts at all.’

• In New York’s 17th Congressional District, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-Pearl River, and New Castle Democrat Cait Conley are of two minds on federal health care policy
• Conley and most Democrats bewail the cuts to projected Medicaid spending over the next decade, saying that an estimated $990 billion in reduced spending will harm sick patients as well as the hospitals that serve them.
• Lawler and his bipartisan band of backers insist there will actually be no cuts to Medicaid, despite the dire projections of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
• A recent online Facebook ad by the Lawler campaign illustrates its view. The ad features Brendel Logan-Charles, D-Hillburn, deputy supervisor of the town of Ramapo.
• “Nothing is perfect when it comes to health insurance,” said Logan-Charles, who has served on the Democrat-controlled Ramapo Town Board since 2012. “Let’s take a look at what Mike Lawler has really done. He’s the person who is in there fighting for us for Medicare and Medicaid, every single day. He has saved us from the cuts, and you still have your insurance intact. You don’t have any cuts at all. You are actually OK. And because of Mike Lawler, you’re OK.”
• The ad has unleashed a torrent of criticism from the Conley campaign and her supporters.
• Bedford Democrat Kevin McAvey, a health-care consultant with the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said Charles-Logan’s statements were untrue.
• “It’s gaslighting at its finest,” said McAvey. “Those are lies. What irks me is that while we might have a difference of option on policy, Mike Lawler is disingenuous about what his votes and actions mean for people living in our district. With this increased paperwork to keep your Medicaid, recipients are going to have cross additional hurdles to get access to a doctor.”
• Conley campaign spokeswoman Maddy Rosen said Lawler’s spin on federal health-care policy does not resonate among New Yorkers dealing with the loss of premium insurance tax credits on their Affordable Care Act policies and Medicaid work requirements that kick in on Jan. 1, just eight weeks after election day.
• “Leave it to career political operative and lobbyist Mike Lawler to try to gaslight New Yorkers into believing they’re ‘OK’ as their healthcare costs soar and their coverage is slashed,” she said. “Mike can lie all he wants, but the fact remains that he was the deciding vote on Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill to kick nearly a half million New Yorkers off their healthcare – not to mention he continues to rake in hundreds of thousands from Big Pharma and insurance companies as they jack up costs.”
• Lawler campaign manager Ciro Riccardi declined comment.
• “The fact is that Mike Lawler cast a deciding vote for the largest Medicaid cuts in American history,” said [Liza] Barrie. “Brendel Logan-Charles and Lawler are working for powerful special interests, and their own political careers. They aren’t helping families in the district with health care.”
• “Congressman Mike Lawler voted to cut almost $1 trillion in funding for Medicaid, and as a result, 750,000 New Yorkers will lose their Medicaid coverage, and families saw their premiums go up while seniors, parents, and even cancer patients are at risk of losing their coverage altogether,” said Courtney Fields, executive director of Empire State Voices, a group that has rallied against the cut in NY-17. “Rep. Lawler should oppose harsh requirements proposed by the Trump administration to implement Medicaid cuts from the Republican tax law that will lead to even more people – specifically sick people – losing Medicaid coverage.”