Orlando Sentinel

Trump to visit The Villages

- By Steven Lemongello slemongell­o @orlandosen­tinel.com

President Trump is making another visit to Central Florida.

A White House official said Trump will hold an event at The Villages on Tuesday, Aug. 6, focused on Medicare.

The official White House event comes seven weeks after Trump kicked off his 2020 campaign at the Amway Center in Orlando, highlighti­ng the importance of Florida to his re-election.

The Villages, a massive age-restricted community in northeast Lake, south Marion and east Sumter counties, is peak Trump territory, with Sumter County providing the president with 68% of its votes in 2016. The group “Villagers for Trump” has also held parades of golf carts in support of him.

Trump hasn’t visited the community as a candidate or as president, though Vice President Mike Pence made an appearance in 2016.

According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, The Villages community developmen­t district also contribute­d $250,000 to help fund Trump’s inaugurati­on in 2017.

That amount was equal to the contributi­ons of companies such as Charter Communicat­ions, Comcast, Pepsi and Ford Motor Co., according to a summary of the filing by The Center for Public Integrity, or CPI.

The Medicare-themed event comes as Democratic presidenti­al candidates battle over their plans to expand the program to create either a public option, as former Vice President Biden is proposing, or a “Medicare for All” single payer system as U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren propose.

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris has proposed a program somewhere between the two.

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