Vice President JD Vance took his anti-fraud message to Maine on Thursday, telling a rowdy crowd in an airport hangar that there was a “festering” fraud problem in the state that could be remedied by electing Republicans to offices currently held by Democrats.
With the midterm elections in November on the horizon, Mr. Vance has established himself as the face of the Trump administration’s crusade to ferret out fraud.
As Americans worry about their financial futures and the ballooning cost of the war in Iran, the vice president is stressing tightened spending on public benefits — $1.3 billion in halted federal Medicaid payments to California, or $259 million in Medicaid funds to Minnesota, with more warnings on the way.
The task force has given Mr. Vance an opening to campaign against Democrats. Mr. Vance said during his appearance, in Bangor, that he was willing to work with Democrats to root out fraud, but that there had been “no cooperation” from the state government.
“Maine Democrats, elected Democrats, seem to really like fraudsters,” Mr. Vance mused to the crowd.
In a statement after the event, Gov. Janet Mills of Maine, a Democrat, pushed back, pointing to anti-fraud steps taken by the state in recent years, including “partnership with federal law enforcement.” She added that the vice president’s remarks were an attempt to distract from the Trump administration’s “endless war in Iran and failure to control crushing costs — including sky high gas prices — that Maine families and businesses are struggling with every day.”
Trump officials are pulling the levers of the federal government to flag potential areas of government waste and fraud. This week, officials sent letters to attorneys general across the country, warning that federal Medicaid funding would be rescinded if each state did not comply with the federal government’s efforts to root out fraud and waste.
Mr. Vance said that the federal government would no longer provide money for programs and then try to root out bad spending later.
“We’re actually making the money conditional on state governments fighting fraud to begin with,” Mr. Vance said. He said that “filters” and A.I. programs would help identify fraud and establish eligibility to receive benefits.
Mr. Vance brought up a case involving tax fraud charges related to Medicaid against an immigrant business owner in Maine, who has pleaded guilty.
Democrats criticized Mr. Vance’s trip as a politically motivated effort to divert attention away from the rising cost of living, They have also seized on remarks by President Trump earlier this week that economic issues were not on his mind “even a little bit” as the U.S. war in Iran continues.
When asked by a reporter about the potential for federal money to be taken away from rural and low-income families in Bangor that might rely on it, Mr. Vance said that vulnerable people would not be affected, as long as they deserved the help.
“We’re setting this up so the people who need these programs and are eligible for them — they’re not going to suffer the consequences,” Mr. Vance said.
The vice president offered support for Paul LePage, the state’s bombastic former Republican governor who is seeking a House seat in the state’s Second Congressional District. He called Mr. LePage “the biggest threat to fraudsters that ever existed in the state of Maine.”
He also claimed that Ms. Mills had refused to pursue potential fraud cases. Ms. Mills, a two-term governor, recently dropped out of a race for the Senate seat long held by Susan Collins, Republican of Maine. Ms. Collins is facing a tough race against Graham Platner, a progressive Democratic challenger. She received tepid support from Mr. Vance.
“Sometimes I get frustrated with Susan Collins,” Mr. Vance said of the senator. Ms. Collins has sought restrictions on Mr. Trump’s ability to indefinitely carry out a war in Iran, receiving attacks from Mr. Trump in the process. “But the thing I love about Susan is she is independent, because Maine is an independent state.”
Katie Rogers is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
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