DNC Battleground Brief

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. 

“DONALD TRUMP DOES NOT VALUE BLACK LIVES.” DEMOCRATS SLAM TRUMP’S RECORD OF FAILURE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS. Across the battlegrounds, Democrats spoke out about the damage Trump has inflicted on the African American community — from his failed coronavirus response, horrendous statements regarding the murder of George Floyd, and years of damaging policies.

In Pennsylvania:

The Philadelphia Tribune: Democratic leaders criticize failure of Trump administration to respond to coronavirus, police brutality. “During a Wednesday afternoon press call, state Sen. Vincent Hughes said President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been ‘horrific’ […] As a result of his administration and his failed leadership, we had the most deaths of any country in the world.’ More than 100,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the U.S. Hughes said 20% of Pennsylvania’s coronavirus deaths are in the Black community, even though Blacks make up 12% of the state’s population.”

In Michigan:

MLive: President Donald Trump ‘does not value black lives,’ says Michigan Democratic Party chair. “Barnes said Trump’s ‘failed response to COVID-19 has devastated black Michiganders’  and ‘when protesters stand up and demand that police be held accountable for racist conduct and abusing black people, he calls those protesters ‘rioters’ and ‘looters’ and demands that governors ‘dominate’ their citizens. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice under the Trump administration ‘has rolled back critical Obama-era policing reforms and has refused to investigate police departments with cultures of abuse,’ she said.” 

In Nevada:

Las Vegas Sun: NV Dems Chair: Amid chaotic pandemic response, African Americans face worst of a cratering economy. “Donald Trump’s failures will have severe consequences long after the pandemic has passed. In every lost paycheck and in every business that closes its doors, years and decades of hard work are being erased in a matter of weeks and months. This president’s words are vile and dangerous. His actions have been deadly. And every day he remains in the White House will inflict more harm on the health, lives and future of black families across Nevada.”

NOT SO JOYOUS: DEMOCRATS CALL OUT TRUMP’S CRATERING ECONOMY. Unemployment is at its worst since the Great Depression, with 21 million Americans out of work. Yet Donald Trump called the news “stupendous,” “joyous,” and “stunning.” Across the battlegrounds, Democrats highlighted a shattered economy that is punishing working families every day.

  • Arizona Democrats: “This is no time for celebration. But this President is more interested in grandstanding than working to keep Americans safe.”
  • Colorado Democrats: “Thanks to Donald Trump’s bungled response to a global pandemic, and his enablers like Cory Gardner, Colorado families are faced with a crumbling economy, 21 million people unemployed nationally, and no real plan from the Oval Office to fix this problem of Trump’s making.”
  • Florida Democrats: “The May jobs report illustrates what so many Floridians feel every day — millions of working families are still paying the price for Donald Trump’s inability to manage a crisis.”
  • Michigan Democrats: “This unemployment report is a devastating reminder of how Donald Trump has failed, putting big corporations and the wealthy first before everyday working people.” 
  • Nevada Democrats: “Nevada is yet again feeling the brunt of Donald Trump’s chaotic handling of the coronavirus as we top the nation with the highest unemployment rate.”
  • New Hampshire Democrats: “Today, Donald Trump and the NH GOP are celebrating that 21 million Americans and over 100,000 Granite Staters are unemployed and more than 100,000 Americans are dead due to Donald Trump’s chaotic and unprepared response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
  • North Carolina Democrats: “North Carolinians can see that Donald Trump is not up to the task of leading us out of this crisis, and in November, I’m confident they’ll choose a new path for our country in Vice President Joe Biden.”
  • Pennsylvania Democrats: “Today’s jobs report is a crushing reminder of Donald Trump’s failure to lead us through the pandemic.”
  • Virginia Democrats: “Every day, the chaos and failure of Donald Trump’s presidency is costing Virginians our safety and our livelihoods.”
  • Wisconsin Democrats: “Today’s dismal jobs report, which showed 13.3% of Americans out of work at the conclusion of May, is due not only to Trump’s disastrous COVID-19 response, but also because of his erratic trade war with China and his tax-scam bill that encouraged giant corporations to ship jobs overseas.”

REPUBLICAN CONVENTION CHAOS! TRUMP THROWS A FIT AND ABANDONS NORTH CAROLINA. This week, Trump decided to put his selfish demands over the health of North Carolinians, pulling the Republican National Convention out of Charlotte — a new and unorthodox general election strategy! While the RNC scrambled to pick up the pieces, Democrats slammed Trump’s twisted priorities.

  • DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa: “Over 100,000 people have died, tens of millions are unemployed, and our country is facing civil unrest. And yet, Donald Trump is more concerned about holding a massive party for himself than leading our nation through crisis.”
  • Spectrum News: RNC 2020: Unpacking The Politics of a Party Convention. “‘This isn’t about you, Mr. President, it’s about something much bigger than you. It’s about the public health and safety of people here in North Carolina, people coming to the convention,’ said Tom Perez.”
  • Charlotte Observer Editorial Board: Donald Trump cares about his convention, not NC’s health. Good riddance. “It’s about public health. That’s it. Roy Cooper wanted to protect the health of North Carolinians. Donald Trump was thinking about himself. […] We wish the RNC and Trump chose the responsible wait-and-see approach Democrats are taking with their August convention in Milwaukee, but if the president is insistent on his convention-goers partying like it’s 2019, he needs to find a city and state where leaders care as little as he does about the risks.”

TODAY’S TOP BATTLEGROUND READS. While Trump flails in Washington, the battlegrounds are continuing to slip away from him. Check out a few key trends that are setting the stage for November.

 

  • Women Continue Turning Against Trump:

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Trump’s Economy Is Pummeling Battleground Voters:  

 

    • Bloomberg News: Trump Faces Drag of Job Losses Topping 16% in Vital 2020 States. “Heavy job losses are expected to persist through 2020 and into next year in some of America’s biggest swing states, providing a crucial challenge for President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. States that depend on tourism and manufacturing are suffering some of the worst employment declines since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in March — among them battleground states including Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada.”

 

 

 

  • Never Underestimate Trump’s Ability to Self-Sabotage:

 

 

 

WHEREVER TRUMP AND HIS CRONIES GO, WE’RE HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

In Maryland:

DNC: “Donald Trump and his campaign don’t seem to get that misdirection does not work with Black voters. They aren’t fooled. Nothing Mike Pence says can erase the vile rhetoric, heartless inaction, and cruel injustice we see from this White House every day. This moment demands a president who will act like a leader, heal our country’s divisions, and stand with the movement against police brutality. But time and again, Trump has proven he would rather pour gas on the fire than stand up to injustice.”

In Maine:

Maine Beacon: ME Dems Chair: Mainers need real leadership from Trump, not a photo op. “As we continue to face the most serious public health crisis the world has seen in a century, Trump has decided to move on, declaring victory too soon and once again making this crisis worse than it needs to be. […] Maine is not another one of his props. We deserve real leadership from our federal government right now, not a photo op.”

WGME: Maine Democrats criticize President Trump’s visit. “Maine Democrats are criticizing President Donald Trump’s visit to the state on Friday. Chair of the state’s Democratic Party, Kathleen Marra, released a statement saying in part: ‘While Trump tweets threats, stokes division, and shows zero empathy to Americans protesting injustice and protecting themselves from a deadly virus, he’s coming to Maine to use our essential front-line workers as a backdrop.’”

WCSH: Mills to Trump: ‘Check [your] rhetoric at the door’ before coming to Maine. “The governor said she has not seen leadership in the President, and said she called for ‘empathy, compassion, courage and understanding’ for protesters against injustice instead of hatred, division, animosity, and distrust. She said she asked that Trump ‘check his rhetoric at the door’ when he arrives in Maine.”

BONUS: Maine Greeted Trump With A Pair of Scathing Editorials.

  • Portland Press Herald: To President Trump: You should resign now. “President Trump: We’re sorry that you decided to come to Maine, but since you are here, could you do us a favor? Resign. […] You are a president supported by a minority of the people, and your only path to victory in November is to further divide the nation. […] America needs to heal again. Please resign now, and let us begin.”
  • Bangor Daily News: President Trump, now is not the time to be in Maine. “Pleas from Gov. Janet Mills to not come to Maine, not now, were not meant as a challenge or a joke. Treating them as such shows how out of touch you are with the reality of America today. The governor is rightly worried about security — yours as well as that of the people of Guilford, Piscataquis County and all of Maine.

OUT-ORGANIZED + OUT-REGISTERED = VOTED OUT. From voter registration to absentee ballots, check out the organizing disadvantages that are haunting Republican operatives across the battlegrounds. 

  • The New York Times: Republicans Fear Trump’s Criticism of Mail-In Ballots Will Hurt Them. “Republican officials and strategists warned that if a wide partisan gap over mail voting continues in November, Republicans could be at a disadvantage, an unintended repercussion of the president’s fear-mongering about mail ballots that could hurt his party’s chances, including his own. In Pennsylvania, Iowa, Indiana and New Mexico, all states voting on Tuesday that broadly extended the option to vote by mail this year, a higher share of Democrats than Republicans have embraced mail-in ballots.”

In Pennsylvania: 

In Iowa:

  • Des Moines Register: Iowa sets new primary election turnout record after mail-in ballots surge. “Iowa set a new primary election turnout record Tuesday, as absentee voting surged in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. […] This year’s absentee voters included 232,438 registered Democrats and 177,843 registered Republicans.”
  • Iowa Democrats Lead Voter Registration: “For the first time in at least two decades, there are more registered Democrats in Iowa than there are GOP or non-party registered voters. These steadily growing numbers make one thing clear: Iowans are ready to elect Democrats up-and-down the ticket. Just since the start of the year, more than 60,000 Iowans have registered to vote for Democrats and the momentum is on our side as we move into the general election to turn Iowa blue.”

In New Mexico:

  • Albuquerque Journal: “Statewide, the more than 400,000 people – including 244,000 Democrats and 157,000 Republicans – who cast ballots far exceeded the 2016 primary when 328,000 voters cast ballots. […] ‘We’re really turning people out in the face of adversity right now. […] We’ve lost so many people to the virus and we have a lot of things to make right in our country,’ said Marg Elliston, the chairwoman of the New Mexico Democratic Party.”

SPEAKING OF VOTE-BY-MAIL…

WKRG: Florida Democrat leader rips president over his voter registration. “After spending weeks politicizing vote-by-mail and lying about voter fraud, it’s once again clear that Trump is guilty of what he accuses others of doing,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo. “Floridians are sick of Trump’s double standards and cheap attempts to suppress their right to vote — and will hold him accountable at the ballot box in November. He’s a president, not a king.” 

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