Virginia Senator Mark Warner was in Richmond Thursday morning to meet with seniors and groups that aid them. Many of the residents gathered in the basement of the Randolph Place senior living facility were angry with what was happening in Washington.
Kate Ruby is with the Birdhouse Farmers Market, a local food source for folks who can get their SNAP funds doubled thanks to federal grants. That is until July when, thanks to cuts in Washington, Ruby said the grant funds run out.
And while she was angry at the loss of funding, she was also angry about something else: “I don’t feel like we’ve got a good opposition party. I’m seeing a lot of angry noises and chest pounding, but not any real opposition!”
Ruby was part of a group of local seniors and senior support groups who were there to tell Virginia's Senior Senator how federal cuts were impacting the area. Instead, it turned into an opportunity to vent frustrations with the Trump Administration and Democrats' response.
Warner took the critiques in stride, saying it wasn't the first time he'd heard complaints about the party he'd been a member of for decades.
The senator said he can and has been fighting President Donald Trump’s actions in the courts, and there have been some wins there. They can also protest in the streets, and he did that after Elon Musk’s agency cuts. But without control in the legislative branch, there’s little they can do in the short term.
That wasn’t a welcome response for many of those in attendance.
Facing possible cuts to federal benefits, and increasing wait times for Social Security support calls, the room full of senior voters was mad.
“I stood up in Sunday school once and cursed because we were talking about Trump,” said Juanita Sackey, she goes by Madea like in the movies.
Sackey said her Ghanaian last name made her worried about being targeted by immigration agents and she was worried about other brown folks, including U.S. citizens, who were facing unnecessary detainment and arrest.
And while she wasn’t mad at Warner in particular, she was worried about the future: “The Democratic Party has just gotten on my nerves. My last nerve!”
After the meeting, Warner said he understood folks' frustrations.
“If I don’t want people yelling at me, I picked the wrong job," he told reporters before offering at least one solution for those as frustrated as he was: "Folks need to talk to folks who voted for President Trump and ask, ‘Is this what you wanted?'”
Warner said he’d take concerns shared by the group with him when he heads back to Washington next week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
