Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Donald Trump supporter who stopped paying his mortgage to follow campaign trail now feels ‘betrayed’ by president

Kraig Moss, nicknamed the ‘Trump Troubadour’ has attended 45 Trump rallies 

Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith
Wednesday 22 March 2017 14:07 GMT
Comments
'Trump Troubadour' Kraig Moss explains why he no longer supports the president (CNN)
'Trump Troubadour' Kraig Moss explains why he no longer supports the president (CNN) (CNN)

A Donald Trump supporter who stopped paying his mortgage so he could follow the business tycoon on his campaign trail has said he feels “betrayed” by the president, after learning the details of the proposed Republican health care plan.

Mr Moss, who was nicknamed the Trump Troubadour in the lead up to the election, visited 45 of the Republican’s rallies and sang pro-Trump songs on his acoustic guitar, told CNN that he cannot believe the president supports the new American Health Care Act.

“The bill is an absolute betrayal of what Mr Trump represented on the campaign trail,” Mr Moss told the broadcaster. “I feel betrayed.”

The new bill, also known as Trumpcare, has been fiercely criticised for the effect it is expected to have on US citizens. If it is passed, an extra 14 million Americans are predicted to be left without health care insurance next year.

Independent analysts have also predicted that five million fewer people will be covered by Medicaid by 2018, while Democratic senator Bernie Sanders simply stated that “thousands of Americans will die” if the legislation is passed.

For Mr Moss, the problem with the new health care plan is that it will end a policy under Obamacare in a majority of states that saw addiction services covered by Medicaid.

Addiction is a tough subject for Mr Moss, who found his 24-year-old son dead in bed in 2014. He had died from a heroin overdose.

Mr Moss had believed addiction was an important topic for the president too. During his campaign, Mr Trump had called drug addiction a “tremendous problem” and, at a town hall meeting in Ohio last year, he told supporters: “It’s very hard to get out of the addiction of heroin. We’re going to work with them, we’re going to spend the money, we’re going to get that habit broken,” Business Insider reported.

Bernie Sanders grills Tom Price on Trump's health care plans

Mr Trump even addressed his troubadour directly at one rally. Pointing at Mr Moss and addressing the death of the singer’s son, Mr Trump said: “And I know what you went through. He’s a great father, I can see it. And your son is proud of you. Your son is proud of you,” CNN reported.

“I believed everything he said,” Mr Moss told the broadcaster, adding that now he believes the president had simply been looking for votes when he made his promises. He said he feels angry, hurt, and let down by Mr Trump.

The amateur singer’s comments come as Mr Trump’s approval ratings have hit an all-time low for his presidency, despite having only been in office for two months.

The latest Gallup poll shows Mr Trump has an approval rating of just 37 per cent. It marks the first time in at least 70 years that a president’s ratings have fallen to such a low point this early on in their first term.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in