While Katko continues to pretend he hasn’t already pledged to support Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, it turns out that Katko and Trump are more alike than Katko wants to admit when it comes to the issues facing Central New York.
Here are just a few examples:
- Defunding Planned Parenthood: Since entering Congress, Katko has voted to defund Planned Parenthood four times, after promising Central New York voters he wouldn’t when he ran for Congress. Trump opposes funding for Planned Parenthood.
- Limit Access to Contraception: Both Katkoand Trump praised the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision to allow employers to deny access to contraceptive coverage to women.
- Thwarting Roe v. Wade: Katko said he would vote to repeal Roe v. Wade. Trump described Roe v. Wade as “wrongly decided” and argued that abortion rights were unconstitutional.
- Against Raising Minimum Wage: Katko opposed raising the minimum wage to $10.10 in 2014, and recently opposed gradually raising the state’s minimum wage to $15. Trump said he opposes raising the minimum wage and claimed that American wages are “too high.”
- Dismiss Equal Pay: Katko has voted to block consideration of the Paycheck Fairness Act. [H. Res. 189, Vote #148, 4/14/15; Bloomberg, 4/14/15; Congressional Record, 4/14/15]. Trump dismissed gender pay and said that women should do as good a job as men.
- Fail to Stand up for Marriage Equality: Katko said that Congress and the federal government shouldn’t have a say on marriage equality. Trump is opposed to marriage equality.
- Questioning Climate Change: Katko said about climate change “I don’t know if it’s a man-made problem or not.” Trump said “I’m not a big believer in man-made climate change.”
- Cutting Education Funding: Katko said he supported “deep spending cuts” to the Department of Education. Trump said he would also make significant cuts to the Department of Education.
“Despite Congressman Katko’s desperate attempts to distance himself, it turns out that the Katko/ Trump are more alike than Katko wants to admit when it comes to issues facing Central New York,” said Bryan Lesswing at the DCCC. “Whether it’s defunding Planned Parenthood or opposition to raising the minimum wage, it’s clear that a vote for John Katko is a vote for Donald Trump this November.”