Two former coal miners told CNN’s Bill Weir on Monday that President Donald Trump has been blatantly lying about his ability to bring coal jobs back to the American heartland.
While talking with Weir, coal mining consultant Arthur Sullivan said that Trump has not been truthful about the prospects of bringing back coal jobs that have been declining since the 1980s.
“He’s trying to get [miners’] votes, he isn’t telling them the truth,” Sullivan said. “He’s lying to them.”
Sullivan said that he was particularly annoyed about the president giving false hope to coal miners because “these are really good people” and “if they have the truth, they will make the right decisions.”
Former coal miner Blair Zimmerman, meanwhile, told Weir that Trump was “absolutely” giving miners “false hope” about a coal renaissance that would most likely never come.
“Deregulating stuff will help this much,” he said, making a gesture with his fingers to indicate a small quantity. “It’s not going to help a lot.”
Zimmerman also said that he asked the Trump campaign for specifics about how to bring back coal, and was frustrated that they didn’t seem to have any real plans.
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