Before Donald Trump touched down on Dallas for his controversial roundtable and high-dollar fundraiser, Texas Democrats held a press call to highlight his failure of leadership and return to a state that has been devastated with new coronavirus cases and deaths, as well as its worst unemployment rate on record.

Dallas County is an epicenter for the Trump administration’s failed response to coronavirus. From the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

“Dallas County reported a new single-day high of 300 coronavirus cases, and three more deaths on Wednesday. It’s the fifth time in the past week the county has reported a new record as COVID-19 cases continue to spike. The county has reported 200 or more cases every day for the past two weeks.”

On the call, Congressman Marc Veasey, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa addressed Trump’s failed coronavirus response, the high unemployment rates in African American and Latino communities, and Trump’s terrible relations with minority communities.

Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33): “This man — I am not going to parse any words here — this man is an agitator that purposefully stokes racial flames at every moment that he has. He acts like a dictator. Even after the murder of George Floyd. It really is another tragic case of what Black men and women face every day in America that the President has to take responsibility for. No one can watch the video footage of what police did to George Floyd without being horrified to call to action. Yet, Trump has no real plan to end police brutality or address racial inequality. His administration won’t even acknowledge that systematic racism exists in law enforcement.”

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30): “A nation reeling from the worst pandemic in a century and the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression now faces an issue that in itself has plagued our society from its founding: systemic racism. Our cries for equality and justice are time and time again met with silence, and therefore, complicity of this White House. The inequities of the pandemic that left people of color disproportionately affected and dying, combined with the repeated targeting of Black men and women by members of our law enforcement are carving up despair.”

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa: “You know, it’s ironic that Mr. Trump is coming to Dallas, to North Texas to talk to law enforcement officials about race relations and police violence in Dallas ahead of a $10 million fundraiser. Yet, he comes to our backyard and he does not even invite the African-American police chief, the African-American sheriff, and the District Attorney of Dallas County. This is an insult to our community. This is the kind of politics that Donald Trump engages in.”