NEW AD: ND “Being Used as Weapon in This Trade War”

(BISMARCK, ND) – Amid shrinking markets, decreasing soybean prices, and continued uncertainty about the future, the North Dakota Dem-NPL today released :15 and :30 digital ads on the trade war. The ads highlight how Cramer’s refusal to stand up to the administration – and for North Dakotans – against these tariffs is hurting North Dakota’s economy. The ads will run on Facebook for a minimum of two weeks as part of a campaign-long, five-figure digital buy against Cramer.

WATCH:

“Kevin Cramer has made it clear that he won’t stand with North Dakota’s farmers and manufacturers against this trade war,” said Courtney Rice, Press Secretary for the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Instead, he’s following through on his one campaign promise to stand with the president 100 percent of the time, going so far as to call concerns over the tariffs ‘hysteria.’ Well, with Cramer’s self-imposed September 1st deadline fast approaching, he’ll have to decide where his loyalties are.”

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#TBT: Cramer’s Actions on PSC Raised Serious Questions as to the “Appearance of Impropriety”

(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer has always put himself first. Look no further than his time on the Public Service Commission when Cramer took over $55,000 in campaign contributions from the same industries with applications before the PSC.

This led to a lawsuit alleging that Cramer and another commissioner took “improper campaign contributions” from coal mining officials. Although the lawsuit was dismissed because the judge didn’t have jurisdiction, the judge raised flags about Cramer’s actions saying they were “devoid of common sense” and raised serious questions as to the “appearance of impropriety.”

An editorial from the Bismarck Tribune echoed these concerns, noting that “when it comes to campaign contributions and industry regulation, perception is reality” and that Cramer’s decision to take these contributions “raises questions about… impartiality.”

Bottom line: Cramer will always act with his own interests in mind, even when it goes against the interests of North Dakotans and even when it means throwing his own integrity to the wayside.

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Cramer Misleading, Spreading Falsehoods All the Way to Election Day

(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer’s misinformation campaign is kicking into high gear as he attempts to paper over his record of putting himself and his special interests above North Dakotans. From health care to the trade war to distorting his own record while misleading North Dakotans about Heidi’s, Cramer is proving that he’s “one of the best fudge masters in Washington, D.C.”

PolitiFact on the Cramer-Endorsed Trade War

  • For workers in America’s heartland, the good news of savings from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts is getting overshadowed by concern over his disruptive trade policies.
  • “My equipment manufacturers tell me whatever advantage they’ve gotten from the tax code change has been eaten up in the very early months of the steel and aluminum tariffs,” Heitkamp said on CNBC on July 20, 2018.
  • Economists tell us the effects of the tariffs, while imprecise so far, are not pretty.

PolitiFact on Cramer’s Health Care Agenda

  • Whatever Cramer’s wish is, his votes jeopardize coverage as it stands for pre-existing conditions in the individual market, according to Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health care organization.
  • By the letter of the law the bills protect pre-existing conditions. But they take away the mandate that everyone be insured and the subsidies that make that affordable. In practice, plans for individuals in the nongroup market would become exorbitantly priced, if available at all.
  • The limits of what insurance companies could charge would have been watered down, which would have sent premiums skyrocketing, experts say, to the point that coverage for many would be unattainable.

HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts record on government shutdown

  • Cramer, running to unseat Democrat Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, touted a clean record without any support for shutdowns… We took a closer look.
  • Cramer has cast votes that indirectly resulted in a shutdown.
  • We found multiple instances where Cramer indirectly helped to cause a shutdown by voting for bills that defunded Obamacare — these bills had no chance of survival in the Senate or of being signed by then-President Obama. While Cramer’s actions were not direct votes on keeping the government open, they encouraged the 2013 shutdown.
  • We rate this statement Mostly False.

HEADLINE: Washington Post: N.D. Republican’s Senate campaign ‘fact-checking’ website promotes false claim on CBO estimates

  • For a website that proclaims it is providing the truth and nothing but the facts, this line about the tax cuts and economic growth is poppycock. The CBO does take into account the economic effect of tax bills, so Cramer is simply wrong on that score. It’s even worse for a politician to suggest he is a deficit hawk — and ready to take on entitlements — and yet dismiss credible forecasts on future deficits by a respected agency.
  • Four Pinocchios.

HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts Heidi Heitkamp’s record on banking regulations

  • A review of the evidence shows that Heitkamp has been working on banking issues since she was elected in 2012… “During the entirety of (her tenure), she has often expressed a desire for regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions,” said Rob Blackwell, editor of American Banker. “The idea that she’s a johnny-come-lately to regulatory reform just doesn’t hold water.”
  • Heitkamp has been an advocate of regulatory relief for small banks since she ran for the Senate in 2012. Cramer announced his Senate bid in February. Heitkamp’s lack of support for the regulatory relief that Cramer supports does not mean she is disinterested in regulatory relief.
  • We rate this statement False.

Valley News Live: Cramer’s Ad “Misleading”

  • By using the video, it appears as though we are questioning Senate Majority PAC on their latest ads. We are not. Watch and listen.
  • Because of this, we must label the most recent ad from Cramer’s campaign as ‘misleading.’

Zaleski, The Forum on Cramer’s False Promise to Protect Medicare and Social Security:

  • The ad’s premise is false. Cramer has always wanted to mess with Medicare—cut benefits, privatize portions of the program, etc. He can’t fudge his record, although he is one of the best fudge masters in Washington, D.C.
  • The ad relies on shrewdly ambiguous weasel-words… He is vague about future Medicare for people currently in the workforce (would he gut benefits?), while he preaches to oldsters who are on the program now, who vote, that he’s their Medicare evangelist. It’s not blatant deceit; it’s duplicitous half-truth.

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“If This Keeps Going On, What Does It Do For The Future Of ND Agriculture?”

(Bismarck, ND) – While Cramer bafflingly says he is happy with the way the trade war has played out so far, North Dakota’s farmers and manufacturers are suffering the consequences. One Valley City farmer who attended Cramer’s trade town hall last week said he and others are “concerned with what the tariffs are doing to North Dakota agriculture as a whole… we feel like we’re losing our market share.”

Even Secretary Perdue acknowledged that this trade war “could not have come at a worse time” for farmers with farm income for 2018 forecasted to decline and borrowing up 21 percent since 2012, reaching debt levels from the 80s.

And the $12 billion bailout that Cramer has taken credit for? It’s simply a band-aid solution on top of what was an avoidable problem – a fact that both administration officials and agriculture experts have both stated:

Reminder: There are only two days remaining until Kevin Cramer’s self-imposed deadline to stand with North Dakota against the trade war. See the countdown here.

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Cramer Happy With Progress of Trade War

(Bismarck, ND) – With only three days remaining until Kevin Cramer’s self-imposed deadline to stand with North Dakota against the trade war, the state’s farmers and manufacturers aren’t holding their breath for him to do anything. Cramer has made it clear that he’s sticking with the administration in this trade war, despite the economic harm it’s causing the state.

Just yesterday, Cramer bafflingly said it’s all “playing out the way that I hoped.”

Below is a probably accurate portrayal of Cramer in that exact moment:

It’s not playing out well for North Dakota though.

HEADLINE: KVRR: Farmers Speak Out Against Rep. Kevin Cramer and His Comments on Trade War

Forum: “The North Dakota Trade Office says two foreign trade missions to the state have been canceled and a higher-than-normal number of visas sought by international buyers hoping to attend this year’s Big Iron Farm Show have been denied by immigration officials.”

Associated Press: “One of the town hall participants, soybean farmer Matt Gast, said export sales figures released Thursday show that the U.S. has shipped 37 percent fewer soybeans compared to this time a year ago. ‘We weren’t losing that much market share before the tariffs came into effect,’ Gast said. ‘How long can this go on before we can gain some of this back or we can’t regain it back?’”

Rugby, ND farmer: “I’m terrified of this trade thing. I lose sleep over it […] It’s just the uncertainty of it.”

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ICYMI: “Cramer Could be Using a Loophole to Skirt Reporting”

(BISMARCK, ND) – What is Kevin Cramer hiding?

NDxPlains: Cramer Could be Using a Loophole to Skirt Reporting
By Tyler Axness

  • As Congressman Kevin Cramer is seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate, he may be using a loophole to skirt the reporting requirements of his assets on his personal financial disclosure. The Senate rules vary from the House.
  • By reporting his financial assets as a member of the House, where ethics rules don’t require reporting non-interest bearing accounts, instead of a candidate for the Senate, where ethics rules require all accounts with assets in aggregate of $5,000 be reported, regardless of interest, Cramer could potentially be concealing information on his finances.
  • This wouldn’t be the first time Cramer’s financial reporting has raised questions. In fact, if he is using a loophole it only leads to more questions.
  • As far as I can tell, Cramer has not reported having a bank account on his federal personal financial disclosure dating back to the mid-1990s. Recall, he first ran for Congress against Earl Pomeroy. Around that time, he held numerous appointed state government positions. He was appointed State Tourism Director. Then he was appointed Economic Development Director. Then he was appointed Public Service Commissioner (PSC). All before he ran for Congress. All taxpayer funded paychecks, yet he didn’t report having a bank account to deposit and withdraw from?
  • [Cramer earned] approximately $995,650 in [between 2011 and 2016]. Earlier this year, Politico reported that Cramer has reimbursed himself approximately $200,000from his campaign account. Yet no bank account reported on his personal financial disclosure.
  • In addition, it has been well documented that Cramer pays his wife through campaign funds. She works on his reelection campaign. Between 2013 to 2016, Cramer paid his wife approximately $100,000. Even if they don’t share a bank account, if I understand correctly, spouse assets should still be reported. Over this same time period, Kevin Cramer has donated approximately $25,000 in campaign contributions.
  • It seems odd Cramer hasn’t reported a bank account. Other candidates for the U.S. Senate have done so. Unless he has distributed these funds at numerous banks as to not have an aggregated amount over $5,000 then perhaps he found a creative loophole to not disclose all of his financial assets. If that is the case, further scrutiny is needed. What would he be hiding?

Read the full article here.

See more:
Politico: “Paying family with campaign funds could dog Cramer in Senate bid.” 

KFYR: HEADLINE: Rep. Kevin Cramer’s campaign fund use comes into question

NDxPlains: HEADLINE: Report Raises Questions About Congressman Cramer’s Pay Practices

High Plains Reader: “Hamm and his net worth of $19.5 billion became the decision maker for Cramer accepting Hamm as his national finance chairman.” 

WDAY: “[Cramer] didn’t want to risk losing his seat in the House… It was a call from oil tycoon Harold Hamm, whose net worth is $18 billion, that finally tipped the scales” to him running for U.S. Senate.

Associated Press: As Public Service Commissioner, Cramer was accused of “taking improper campaign contributions from coal mining officials.”

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Cramer Parrots Useless Talking Points on Trade War During Administration Official’s Visit to ND

(BISMARCK, ND) – If North Dakotans hoped Kevin Cramer’s trade town hall with Commerce Secretary Ross would involve a constructive discussion on the impacts of tariffs or any actual understanding of what negative effects have already been felt due to the trade war, they were sorely disappointed. Instead, Ross tactlessly told those in attendance that they should simply “trust Trump” and hang tough – repeating the same clueless sentiment Cramer has been peddling.

Associated Press: Commerce Secretary Tells North Dakota Farmers to Trust Trump

  • Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told North Dakota farm leaders Thursday that they should trust President Donald Trump on trade and tariffs.
  • [Farmers] are nervous about the effects of a long-term dispute.
  • Ross called Trump’s trade plan “a one-time fight that we have to win” and urged the group to “hang in there” against retaliatory tariffs.
  • Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in North Dakota with about 25 percent of the state’s workforce. The state generates 54 commodities and leads the nation in the production of about 10 crops.
  • One of the town hall participants, soybean farmer Matt Gast, said export sales figures released Thursday show that the U.S. has shipped 37 percent fewer soybeans compared to this time a year ago. “We weren’t losing that much market share before the tariffs came into effect,” Gast said. “How long can this go on before we can gain some of this back or we can’t regain it back?”

Read the full article here.

Fargo Forum:

Cramer’s self-imposed deadline of September to stand with North Dakotans against the trade war is fast approaching: he’s got four days left.

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Back to School Reminder: DeVos Family is Bankrolling Cramer’s Campaign

(BISMARCK, ND) – North Dakotans know that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos isn’t right for our public schools. Aside from being wildly unqualified for the position at hand, her radical education agenda doesn’t work for North Dakota. While DeVos has pushed to privatize education and for online charter schools, North Dakotans know that these schools provide a lesser quality of education to students and take money away from much-needed rural school districts.

DeVos’ anti-public education agenda is anti-North Dakota, and that’s why North Dakotans overwhelmingly opposed her nomination. Yet Kevin Cramer has taken $21,600 in campaign contributions from the DeVos family, begging the question: will Cramer stand with North Dakotans against DeVos’ anti-education agenda or with the financiers bankrolling his campaign?

Background:

Forum Editorial:
“DeVos is among the least qualified for the intended job because of her uninformed and ideologically skewed views of public education. Her ignorance was on display during her Senate committee hearing during which she was unable to answer even softball questions about long-standing education policies.
…
The objections [to Devos] crossed party lines, which makes sense in North Dakota where public education occupies a special place in the history and heritage of the state. …

DeVos, on the other hand, has virtually no experience with public schools. Her billionaire status has insulated her and her family from attending public schools, or even acknowledging them. It has been suggested that her familiarity with public education is limited to her having driven by a public school now and again. That might be a generous assessment.”

Williston Herald Editorial:
“DeVos’ confirmation hearing betrayed a stunning lack of preparation about some of the most basic facets of education in the United States.

Given her long-standing support for charter schools, it’s hard to see what benefit DeVos could offer our state as Secretary of Education.”

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ICYMI: Cramer’s Week of Damage-Control

(BISMARCK, ND) – Last week it was missteps and strange comments. This week it’s damage-control mode for Kevin Cramer and his campaign after continually putting himself and his special interests ahead of North Dakotans. See for yourself:

😬MONDAY: A “fact check” shows the NDGOP is on the defense and misleading North Dakotans about Cramer’s health care agenda.

😬TUESDAY: Questions are raised about Cramer’s potential use of a “loophole to skirt the reporting requirements of his assets on his personal financial disclosure.”

😬WEDNESDAY: Cramer and his crew go into full damage control mode on health care. They’re so desperate to hide their disastrous agenda from North Dakotans that they “threatened [constituents] with physical removal” from their ‘set the record straight’ health care conference for fear of being confronted about the harm their plans could cause.

😬THURSDAY: Farmers called out Cramer for failing to stand up for North Dakota – instead choosing to stand shoulder to shoulder with the administration as they pursue a reckless trade war.

😬FRIDAY: Fallout continues from Cramer’s decision to blindly follow the administration down the trade war route.

😬SATURDAY: Cramer campaigns with a crooked businessman. What could go wrong?

NEXT WEEK: 🤯 🤯 🤯

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CROOKED CRAMER’S CHRONICLES – ND FARMERS CALL OUT CRAMER FOR SUPPORTING TRADE WAR – CRAMER FAILS TO ‘SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT’ ON HEALTH CARE

Welcome to Cramer’s Chronicles where, every Friday, we’ll break down the latest and greatest weekly hits about Cramer’s crooked, self-serving, extreme, and gaffe-prone behavior that puts himself and his partisan politics ahead of North Dakotans.

ND FARMERS CALL OUT CRAMER FOR SUPPORTING TRADE WAR. Yesterday, farmers from across North Dakota and the Dem-NPL came together to call on Congressman Cramer to stop blindly following the administration down the trade war route and for failing to stand up for them and the state’s best interests.

  • Wyndmere farmer, state Senator, and Ag Commissioner candidate, Jim Dotzenrod: “It’s a little bothersome to me that the people that have crafted this policy, that have decided to go this route, have no skin in the game. They’re playing poker with somebody else’s money.” 
  • Colfax farmer, Vanessa Kummer: “We all know that trade wars don’t work. And so for Representative Cramer to stand beside Trump and promote harm to North Dakota farmers is just wrong in my opinion.”

HEADLINE: KVRR: Farmers Speak Out Against Rep. Kevin Cramer and His Comments on Trade War

Watch more here.

HANG TOUGH? Meanwhile, Cramer is once again dismissing North Dakotans’ concerns (remember when he accused their fears of the trade war as “hysteria”?). See today’s front page of the Fargo Forum for how Cramer and his cronies are once again belittling the economic impacts his decision to stand with the administration 100 percent of the time are having:

DON’T MISS: “FOR CRAMER, DIFFERING WITH TRUMP MAKES YOU AN ‘ENEMY OF OUR COUNTRY’.” Cramer’s bizarre thinking behind calling Senator Heitkamp an “enemy of our country” for working to help those affected by the trade war is criticized in Mike McFeely’s latest column: “Cramer’s stance is obvious: He’s loyal to Trump above North Dakota. […] With Trump, it’s a different story. Cramer doesn’t see his job as looking out for North Dakotans, but rather standing with the president 100 percent of the time. And if you dare question Trump, you’re ‘an enemy of our own country.’ That’s startling hyperbole, even for an unapologetic Trump fanboy.”

CRAMER FAILS TO ‘SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT’ ON HEALTH CARE. “Cramer campaign on the defensive, as it has been multiple times” and, this week, it was about his disastrous health care record. Cramer and the NDGOP held a ‘set the record straight’ (aka: damage-control) press conference in an attempt to rewrite their history of supporting policies that could spike costs and strip coverage for North Dakotans. Not surprisingly, there were “quite a few misleading claims.”

  • Congressman Kevin Cramer has voted to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act over sixty times since taking office. In 2015, he bragged about voting to repeal the law in its entirety. Repealing the law in its entirety would eliminate the protections of people with pre-existing conditions. To now try and claim otherwise at a press conference is election year spin at its worse.
     
  • Cramer has also claimed Graham-Cassidy, a replacement plan, would protect people with pre-existing conditions. That’s not accurate. While it technically didn’t gut the entire thing, consumers could be charged more for care or completely priced out of the insurance market because of pre-existing conditions. Directors of Medicaid across the nation also raised flags about the proposal’s shortfalls.
  • To top it off, Cramer accuses Democrats of using health care as, “a theme to try and ride into this election cycle.” Apparently, he delivered that line without a hint of irony nor a level of self-awareness. Recall, he voted over 60 times to repeal the law. When asked about it, he claimed those were “symbolic” meaning for political motives. Now, after years of running on health care, they control the federal government and they don’t want you to talk about health care because it isn’t politically advantageous for them.

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakotans can’t trust Kevin Cramer with their health care.

HEADLINE: CRAMER’S OFFICE THREATENS CONSTITUENTS. Chris Hagen of the High Plains Reader details how Mary Rennich and several other North Dakotans concerned about their health care were “threatened… with physical removal from the building if they dared say a word” at Cramer’s health care event. See more:

  • If Mary Rennich and her family lost insurance, she would be facing more than $7,500 a month in medical bills.
  • “Being a citizen of North Dakota, I think we should have a voice,” Rennich said. “I don’t think they should be afraid to hear questions and have some answers ready. I think that’s their responsibility… I would like to ask some questions. And I know there are a lot of other families that would like to ask, too, because we’re really scared. We’re very frightened.”

Seems like the damage-control desperately needed from Cramer’s health care agenda is going about as well as expected.

TWEET OF THE WEEK.

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ND Farmers Speak Out Against Cramer’s Trade War

(BISMARCK, ND) – Yesterday, farmers across North Dakota came together to speak out against the trade war and to call on Congressman Cramer to stand up for North Dakota’s interests, rather than blindly standing with the administration on this disastrous policy and dismissing their concerns as “hysteria.”

WATCH WDAY: Jim Dotzenrod: “It’s a little bothersome to me that the people that have crafted this policy, that have decided to go this route, have no skin in the game. They’re playing poker with somebody else’s money. If they were actually seeing the kind of damage, if they were affected personally, I don’t think we’d see this.”

KVRR: Farmers Speak Out Against Rep. Kevin Cramer and His Comments on Trade War

  • While Congressman Cramer discussed the status of U.S. trade in North Dakota, farmers from across North Dakota spoke out against his comments on the trade war.
  • North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner candidate Jim Dotzenrod and several growers spoke at a forum hosted by the North Dakota Democratic–NPL Party.
  • The producers called out Cramer for saying that they should have a “higher pain threshold” when voicing their concerns about trade.

  • Farmers say the tariffs make it harder for them to do their jobs.

  • “We all know that trade wars don’t work. And so for Representative Cramer to stand beside Trump and promote harm to North Dakota farmers is just wrong in my opinion,” said Vanessa Kummer, a farmer from Colfax.
  • Most of these farmers spoke out in support of Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Cramer’s opponent in the upcoming Senate election, and her stance on agriculture issues.

WATCH KVRR:

Forum: Commerce secretary urges North Dakota ag producers to hang tough in trade war

  • There is plenty of nervousness over how the trade war is affecting North Dakota’s farmers as the harvest gets into full swing.

  • The North Dakota Trade Office says two foreign trade missions to the state have been canceled and a higher-than-normal number of visas sought by international buyers hoping to attend this year’s Big Iron Farm Show have been denied by immigration officials.
  • Both are examples of trade “opportunities lost” for North Dakota companies and farmers, said Simon Wilson, executive director of the trade office.
  • In addition, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL party held a counterprotest at a farm about 8 miles south of Fargo in rural Horace.
  • Speakers said they wanted to hold Cramer accountable for his failure to act on the ongoing trade war with China, which has depressed the prices of soybeans and other crops, and halted orders for soybeans that normally ship in high volumes to ports in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Jim Dotzenrod, a Wyndmere farmer running for North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, said there is a big crop of soybeans coming and the tariffs that have sparked a growing trade war have already depressed soybean prices to $7.33 a bushel, with $9 a bushel being a break-even point for many farmers. “There’s no Pacific Northwest bid” for soybeans, Dotzenrod said. “Those markets have dried up.”
  • Dotzenrod praised Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., while calling on Cramer, who’s trying to unseat Heitkamp, to back away from his unwavering support for President Trump’s trade strategy.

WDAY: “The two, along with Congressman Cramer, hope the state’s farmers have the patience and the faith to wait for some new deals. Now just for a sense of scale here, North Dakota relies on China to buy nearly two-thirds of its soybean crops each year. That’s about a billion and a half dollars worth of beans.”

But Congressman Cramer? He’s still putting himself and his political capital first.

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North Dakotans Can’t Trust Cramer With Their Health Care

(BISMARCK, ND) – Congressman Cramer and his crew made a lot of claims at their damage-control press conference yesterday. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, they further proved that Cramer’s health care agenda is simply not for North Dakota. Not only does Cramer want to undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions but, by reiterating his support for the Graham-Cassidy health care bill, Cramer is endorsing steep cuts to Medicaid – putting our state’s nursing homes at risk.

It’s all part of Cramer’s disastrous health care agenda that he’s now trying to paper over ahead of Election Day. Check out some of the other false claims Cramer and his cronies made:

CLAIM: Cramer claimed he’s always supported protecting folks with pre-existing conditions and that Graham-Cassidy covered pre-existing conditions.

FACT: PolitiFact: “Under no circumstances do the protections in [Graham-Cassidy] equal the ones Americans have today under the Affordable Care Act. They are less.”

CLAIM: Republicans would protect pre-existing conditions if the ACA was ruled unconstitutional.

FACT: Under both the AHCA and Graham-Cassidy, folks with pre-existing conditions could pay higher premiums than folks without pre-existing conditions.

FACT: Cramer has always wanted to get rid of these protections and sabotage the health care law. As far back as 2013, Cramer was advocating for “dismantl[ing]” the law.

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakotans can’t trust Kevin Cramer with their health care.

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