DNC Battleground Brief

May 22, 2020

This is the DNC’s Battleground Brief — a weekly wrap-up of Trump’s broken promises and everything you need to know across the path to 270. 

CORRUPT RECOVERY: DEMOCRATS BLAST TRUMP FOR FAILED CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE THAT’S HURTING SMALL BUSINESS. As we face the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, tens of thousands of small businesses have already shuttered, and millions have filed for unemployment, Democrats called out Trump for continuing to help his wealthy friends while hardworking Americans continue to bear the brunt of the economic impacts of the pandemic. 

Take a look:

  • Financial Times: Democrats to accuse Donald Trump of ‘corrupt recovery effort’. “The Democratic party is planning to make the Trump administration’s small business relief effort a focus of its 2020 election campaign, making the case that the US president has favoured the ‘wealthy and well-connected’ with the Paycheck Protection Program. The Democratic National Committee is targeting its message on key swing states such as Florida, where almost 2m people have claimed unemployment benefits since the beginning of March. On Thursday Tom Perez, DNC chairman, will hold a press call focusing on how the federal coronavirus response has affected Latino-owned small businesses in the ‘Sunshine state.’” 
  • (GA) Georgia Democrats: “Georgia Democrats know that small businesses are the backbone of our economy – and we know that there is no economic recovery without real help for small businesses. But Donald Trump and Republicans have left small businesses high and dry.”
  • (ME) Bangor Daily News: Crushed by the pandemic, Trump has failed Maine’s small businesses: “But now — during this pandemic, with families lining up for nutritional assistance and many small businesses still left in the lurch — it’s become even clearer that Washington has failed us. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
  • (NV) Nevada Democrats: “We Won’t Forget”: Nevada’s Small Businesses Pay The Price For Trump’s Corrupt Recovery. “‘Nevadans are fighting every day just to get by,’ said Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II. ‘But instead of helping Nevada’s small businesses survive an economic disaster of his own making, Donald Trump has funneled desperately-needed relief funding into the hands of a few well-connected friends. When it mattered most, he showed Nevadans where his true loyalties lie — we won’t forget.’”
  • (NC) Cardinal & Pine: Rep. Greg Meyer Opinion: How The Trump Administration Cut NC Small Businesses Out of Coronavirus Relief. “According to a new study released by Piedmont Rising, North Carolina — which has more than 890,000 small businesses — has received just 66,677 of the Trump administration’s Paycheck Protection Program loans. Eighty percent of small businesses that applied for relief money didn’t receive any at all. We must support these businesses, not just for their economic impact, but because they strengthen our communities.”

 

 

  • (VA) Blue Virginia: Virginia’s Small Businesses Shoulder The Burden Of Trump’s Economic Disaster: “‘Making sure small businesses can maintain the economic and cultural roles they play in their communities is vital to the success of this recovery,’ said DPVA Press Secretary Carson Brown. ‘Virginia’s small businesses deserve a federal government that will step up to the plate when they need help. Instead, they’ve been stuck with a corrupt, inadequate response from the Trump administration.’”
  • (WI) The Cap Times: Sarah Godlewski: Trump administration picks Wall Street over Main Street: “This unprecedented time calls for unprecedented financial support to our small business community. While Congress and state governments across the country have taken action to support businesses, local businesses in Wisconsin haven’t gotten the resources they need due to negligent leadership from the Trump administration.” 

DNC CHAIR TOM PEREZ: “LATINO COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN TAKING IT ON THE CHIN”. On Thursday, Chair Perez spent the day (virtually) in Florida, hosting events with Latino community members and leaders to discuss the negative impacts Trump’s broken policies have had on Latinos from his attacks on voting rights to his failure to provide support for small businesses as unemployment rates skyrocket. Take a look:

  • Florida Politics: ‘Latino communities have been taking it on the chin’ during COVID-19; Democrats say more should be done. “‘We have seen so much suffering in communities across the country, and Latino communities have been taking it on the chin in particular,’ Perez said. Reports have shown Latino small business owners have had difficulty accessing relief through the federal Paycheck Protection Program.”
  • CBS News: “During his remarks, Perez told the virtual roundtable attendees that in 2016 Mr. Trump visited communities of color and asked what they had to lose by electing him. The answer to the president’s question, ‘what do Latinos and others have to lose from his presidency?’ Well, the answer is your job, your healthcare, your livelihood and your lives.”

IN THE BATTLEGROUNDS, DEMOCRATS ARE MAKING SURE VOTERS KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S CHAOTIC RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS. Democrats across the battlegrounds are calling out Trump’s trail of broken promises which have put hardworking Americans in a vulnerable position amidst the ongoing pandemic. Some highlights:

In Ohio: 

In Maine: Maine Democrats: 87% Of America’s Nurses Are Still Being Forced To Reuse PPE. “‘Our nation’s nurses are on the front lines of this crisis and they deserve our support and our respect,’ said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. ‘The fact that they are still forced to contend with PPE shortages is reprehensible. Trump has failed our health care workers and it’s long past time for Susan Collins to hold him accountable.’”

In New Hampshire: Concord Monitor: Drop lawsuit aimed at overturning the ACA. “Trump and his administration should be spending their time taking aggressive action to protect all Americans through measures like fully expanding Medicaid, opening a special enrollment for the uninsured, or increasing financial assistance for people struggling to pay for insurance. Instead, they are arguing before the Supreme Court that essential health care coverage should be taken from 20 million Americans, and key programs – like Medicaid expansion – should lose funding.”

In Pennsylvania: Morning Call: Your View by state Rep. Peter Schweyer: Why would we trash health care coverage during a pandemic?: “Recently, voters in two very conservative states, Louisiana and Kentucky, chose as their governors Democrats who promised to embrace Obamacare. And recently in Pennsylvania, we adopted even more aspects of the Affordable Care Act through legislation crafted by none other than the House Republican leader. But still, Donald Trump continues his dangerous legal crusade. No one should be surprised that he opposes the ACA as it was a central tenet of his campaign. But even the most grizzled partisan should be shocked that he’s willing to continue down this path during the middle of this crippling and deadly coronavirus pandemic.”

SPEAKING OF HEALTH CARE…USA TODAY: DEMOCRATS OUTLINE ELECTION PLAN TO MAKE HEALTH CARE THEIR TOP ISSUE AMID CORONAVIRUS. “In a six-page memo shared with USA TODAY, the Democratic National Committee – along with campaign arms for Democratic senators, representatives, governors, attorneys general and state legislatures – outlined a top-to-bottom effort to highlight health care in races across the country in addition to GOP-led efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.”

NO MATTER WHERE TRUMP OR HIS CRONIES GOES, WE’RE THERE TO REMIND VOTERS OF THE BROKEN PROMISES:

IN FLORIDA: Florida Democrats: “Mike Pence came to Florida today to put on a show — and, unfortunately, that’s all we got. We are months into this crisis, more than 92,000 Americans have died, and the Trump administration is STILL playing catch up in responding to this virus. Floridians are sick and tired of the Trump administration’s pageantry and will remember their broken promises come November.”  

  • Miami Herald: “With Pence scheduled to stop in Orlando Wednesday to meet with hospitality and tourism boosters, the Central Florida congresswoman unloaded on the vice president. She said the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force chief has done too little to protect seniors and Florida families, and dismissed his plans to also drop off protective equipment at a nursing home as empty symbolism.”
  • CBS News: 2020 Daily Trail Markers: “The press conference came one day ahead of Pence’s upcoming visit to Orlando, where he’s scheduled to pass out personal protective equipment to nursing homes — a move that the FLDP Chair Terrie Rizzo called ‘too little, too late.’ Demings called the move another ‘smoke and mirrors moment’ where the administration wants to distract voters.”

IN MICHIGAN: USA TODAY: “Michigan Democrats slammed Trump’s visit, saying that it shows he is ‘tone deaf’ to economic turmoil states are facing in the coronavirus crisis. ‘He should not be going on a parade to highlight himself at a time when people are dying, when people are getting very sick, when people are continuing to lose their jobs,’ said Michigan state Rep. Yousef Rabhi.”

  • Michigan Daily: Op-ed: Things lost — graduation and great leadership. “If we had real leadership from the federal government that heeded the warnings about this global pandemic and took swift action to protect Americans, we could have mitigated the damage done by COVID-19. Instead, we have a president who ignored warning after warning, downplayed the risks and is now careening between crises, leaving myself and millions of Americans with the feeling that we must overcome this challenge alone.”
  • Washington Post: “‘He’s using this crisis and federal dollars to come here and have a campaign rally in a plant,’ said Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. She said she does not fault the company because ‘who says no when the president of the United States wants to come say thank you?’”

IN NORTH CAROLINA: Charlotte Observer: Health Secretary to visit Charlotte, meet medical workers on Covid-19 front lines: “Democrats took the occasion to criticize the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis and what officials have called the lack of testing kits. ‘During his visit to Charlotte I hope that instead of just posing for photos, Secretary Azar will recognize these needs and work to secure more tests and equipment for North Carolina’s heroes,’ state Democratic chair Wayne Goodwin said in a statement.”

IN GEORGIA: Georgia Democrats: “Mike Pence and the rest of the Trump administration are guilty of making this crisis worse for millions of Americans by downplaying the coronavirus threat and allowing it to spread unchecked,” said Democratic Party of Georgia Chairwoman Nikema Williams. ‘Now, he’s coming to Georgia, home of the Center for Disease Control, after having ignored public health experts and endangered American lives. Georgians won’t be fooled by Mike Pence, Donald Trump, or this administration’s broken promises.’”

IN MAINE: Maine Democrats: “Instead of asking Mainers for money, Donald Trump’s talking heads need to answer for the chaos of the last two months. Trump chose to downplay the pandemic, failed to contain the virus, and refused to get help to those who need it most. While Trump funnels federal relief to his friends and donors, more than 138,000 Mainers are out of work and small businesses across the state are fighting to stay afloat. Mainers know it didn’t have to be this bad, and we’re going to hold Trump accountable come November.”

IN MARYLAND: DNC: “A photo op can’t spin Trump’s failure to prepare for and respond to the harshest national challenge we’ve faced in a generation. Instead of getting tests and personal protective equipment into the hands of Marylanders, he wasted time, ignored the experts, and promised that the virus would go away on its own. Now, nearly 2,000 Marylanders are dead and more than half a million have lost work. We can’t afford four more years of this chaos.”

THE DEMOCRATS’ ORGANIZING GAME IS STRONGER THAN EVER. Here’s a look at how Democrats across the country are organizing online:

 

  • (Maine) WCSH: Bernie Sanders to join Maine Dems virtual rally as featured guest. “The Maine Democratic Party announced Tuesday that former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders will be the featured guest in their upcoming ‘Rise & Organize’ virtual rally, set for Sunday, May 31 at 3 p.m. Sanders will join previously announced guests Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, as well as Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Sara Gideon, Bre Kidman, and Betsy Sweet.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • In New Mexico: Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair Marg Elliston continued her 33-county virtual listening tour this week, with stops in Taos County (featuring Reps. Ben Ray Luján and Deb Haaland) and Cibola County (featuring Rep. Xochitl Torres Small).

 

 

 

**TRUMP’S VOTE BY MAIL HYPOCRISY CONTINUES**

  • Washington Examiner: Democrats claim absentee ballot edge in Pennsylvania primary an ominous sign for Trump. “Democratic voters are swamping Republicans in requests for absentee ballots for Pennsylvania’s upcoming primary, a development Democrats claim is a harbinger for President Trump in a state critical to his reelection prospects. The presidential election is more than five months off, but Democratic insiders argue the disparity is so sweeping, the only reasonable conclusion to draw is that voters are itching to oust Trump and his Republican allies.”
  • Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly voters have requested more mail ballots than all of Pennsylvania did in 2016: “The difference is so huge, it sounds like a mistake at first. As of Wednesday, almost 23 times as many Philadelphia voters had requested mail ballots as did for the 2016 primary. So many voters — more than 145,000 — that the number in Philadelphia alone already exceeds the statewide total from four years ago.”
  • Oregon Democrats: “A No-Brainer”: In The Midst of Coronavirus, Oregonians Welcome Vote‑By‑Mail Primary. “As Oregon’s 2020 primary comes to a close today, voters across the state are heaping praise on our deeply popular vote-by-mail system. In the midst of a global pandemic, voting by mail ensures that nobody has to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote.”
  • Santa Fe New Mexican: New Mexico on pace for record absentee ballots cast. “New Mexico is on pace to have a record number of absentee ballots cast in a primary election, data from the Secretary of State’s Office shows. […] Statewide, more Democrats have requested absentee ballots than members of other parties — 99,288 Democratic voters compared to 29,711 Republicans and 677 Libertarians.”

AND *ICYMI*, TRUMP AND DEVOS CONTINUE TO FAIL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY: 

Make sure to follow the DNC’s War Room (@DNCWarRoom) to get real-time updates on Trump’s abuses of power and broken promises.

Happy Friday! 

The DNC Comms Team