DNC Battleground Brief

June 12, 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. 

DEMS BLAST TRUMP’S RECESSION — IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE THIS BAD. While Trump was busy celebrating double-digit unemployment, economists determined this week that the United States officially entered a recession in February. Across the battlegrounds, Democrats called out Trump’s economic meltdown.

In Michigan: 

Michigan Daily: DNC Chair Tom Perez and Michigan legislators talk in-state jobs, economy during Trump administration. “‘Despite Trump’s promise that Michigan wouldn’t lose a single plant, auto workers of Michigan in Dearborn and Hamtramck lost their jobs as factories shuttered and downsized,’ Levin said. ‘We’re experiencing the worst unemployment since the Great Depression all because Trump failed to prepare for this crisis.’”

Fox 2 Detroit: “‘This is epic loss and to call this report joyous and to call it in his words, ‘The greatest comeback in American history’ is like being down 42 points in a football game and now you’re only 35 points down,’ Perez said. ‘That is no cause for celebration because that’s where we are. These are the worst numbers since The Great Depression and so much of it was preventable.’”

In Wisconsin: 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “With the unemployment rate in double digits, Perez and others on the call criticized Trump’s economic policies. Perez said the country is ‘in the middle of a pandemic, a jobs crisis, a democracy crisis.’”

TMJ4: “But Perez, a former Labor Secretary,says it’s not the time for the Trump administration to be spiking the football. ‘We were 42 points behind in the football game and know we’re about 35 points behind,’ said Perez. ‘African American unemployment ticked up last month.’”

In Florida:

Florida Politics: ‘A heap of broken promises’: Democrats decry racial disparities in unemployment, other issues. “Rizzo noted unemployment is higher among Hispanics and African-Americans, blasting the President’s ‘failure’ in implementing the Paycheck Protection Program. […] ‘Many Americans, particularly those in black and brown communities’ are suffering unduly from the President’s ‘failed coronavirus response’ and ‘a heap of broken promises.’”

In Nevada:

KSNV: Democratic chief: Las Vegas should blame Trump for crash. “Democrats are pouncing on the numbers because the economy will play huge here. The shutdown brought Nevada, and its tourist economy, the highest unemployment in the nation. ‘The original sin of this pandemic was the president’s failure to listen in December, January and February. He ignored all the warning indicators,’ Perez says.”

DNC POLLING CONFIRMS BATTLEGROUND VOTERS SOURING ON TRUMP. The DNC partnered with Change Research to poll voters across six key battleground states. Check out the results here, and see how it’s playing across the country:

 

  • Bloomberg: Democrats Focus on Economic Pain While GOP Celebrates Jobs Data. “The national party and its state affiliates are launching a campaign to attack Trump’s response to the pandemic as inadequate in appearances starting Monday, arguing that a lack of more forceful federal action made economic conditions worse, Democratic officials tell Bloomberg News. Polls conducted by the party and released Monday from a half-dozen key states showed majorities disapprove of Trump’s handling of the crisis.”

 

 

 

 

  • Florida Politics: Democrats’ poll finds Florida dissatisfaction with Donald Trump’s COVID-19 efforts. “A new poll finds a majority of Floridians are dissatisfied with President Donald Trump‘s efforts to deal with both the health and economic problems of the coronavirus outbreak. The poll, which Change Research conducted for the Democratic National Committee in Florida and five other swing states, finds consistent majorities agreeing with negative views of Trump’s handling of the crisis, and more generally about the unemployment rate in Florida and the national economy.”

 

DEMOCRATS SLAM TRUMP’S EGO-DRIVEN CONVENTION. The Republican National Convention continues to deteriorate into a sideshow. National and Florida Democrats called out Trump’s bizarre ego trip:

  • USA Today: Jacksonville chosen to host Trump’s Republican National Convention acceptance speech. “Democratic National Committee spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said the RNC’s convention is being planned ‘for an audience of one: Donald Trump’s ego.’ ‘More than 113,000 Americans have died and millions have lost their jobs all because Donald Trump has been hiding in his bunker and leaving the American people to grapple with his ineptitude.’”
  • Florida Democrats: “Trump is coming to Florida to throw himself a big party — but it’s looking more and more like a goodbye party to his chance at a second term in the White House.”

FROM TULSA TO TEXAS! Wherever Trump and his cronies go, Democrats are holding them accountable:

In Pennsylvania:

PoliticsPA: Pence to Visit Western PA on Friday. “The Pennsylvania Democratic Party described Pence’s upcoming visit to the state as ‘nothing more than an attempt to distract’ from the Trump administration’s record and criticized the VP’s performance leading the Coronavirus Task Force as well.”

In Texas:

Dallas Morning News: “Democrats said Trump has little credibility on police brutality and racial strife, denying that systematic racism even exists in law enforcement. ‘This man is an agitator that purposely stokes the flames with every moment that he has,’ said Rep. Marc Veasey, whose district includes parts of Dallas. ‘Trump even incited violence by threatening to have protesters shot and attacked by vicious dogs and ominous weapons and pushed for violent crackdowns, and essentially authorized a police state.’”

In Oklahoma:

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Democratic Party chair: Trump visit on Juneteenth a deliberate insult. “President Donald Trump’s decision to visit Tulsa on a date celebrated in the black community feels like ‘a deliberate insult,’ particularly since he will be holding a rally near the site of the 1921 massacre of African Americans, the chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party said Thursday. ‘It feels like an insult, like a deliberate insult at worst and insensitive, unthinking and calculated at best,’’ said Alicia Andrews.”

Associated Press: Black Tulsans call Trump rally plan ‘a slap in the face’. “Oklahoma’s black Democratic Party chairwoman also condemned Trump’s rally plan. ‘A day set aside to commemorate the freedom of enslaved people must not be marred by the words or actions of a racist president,’ Alicia Andrews said.”

ICYMI: Trump’s Trip To Maine Last Week Was…Unproductive.

BLACK LIVES MATTER. Across the battlegrounds, Democrats are standing with the movement for racial justice, opposing police brutality, and calling out Donald Trump’s horrendous record.

  • USA Today: Tom Perez: I spent years working to reform police forces. Trump wants to roll it all back. “I may not work at the Justice Department anymore, but I didn’t spend most of my career fighting police brutality only to see a demagogue cheer it on from the White House. America is hurting. Our African American communities are hurting. And we will not heal through silence, scare tactics or the status quo. We will heal through activism and action, through justice and progress.”
  • MSNBC: Tom Perez: Pres. Trump’s coronavirus response has ‘killed’ African Americans. “The notion that he would go to the city of Tulsa — the birther president, the divider-in-chief, a person who has presided over the doubling of Afircan American unemployment in this country […] What has he done to Black people in America? He has killed them in some places because of his failed response to coronavirus. The unemployment rate, joblessness, hopelessness that he is trying to stoke.”

In Florida:

WATCH: This week, the Florida Democratic Party hosted a virtual roundtable on systemic injustice, police brutality, and racism in the United States, featuring party and community leaders from across the state.

In Ohio:

Mahoning Matters: Ohio Democrats declare racism a public health crisis. “The Ohio Democratic Party executive committee on Saturday voted unanimously to declare racism as a public health crisis and to support voting rights and call for a safe, fair and accessible election this November. […] ‘It’s on all of us — not just our African-American leaders, friends and colleagues — to call out the public health crisis that is caused by and exacerbated by systemic racism.’”

In Maine:

Maine Democratic Party Adopts Resolution on Police Brutality, Calls for Immediate Action. “This resolution is a first measure in the Maine Democratic Party’s support for efforts to fight injustice and support communities who have been fighting systemic racism in our institutions for generations.”

DEMOCRATS CONTINUE FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION — AND FILE NEW LITIGATION IN AZ. Democrats aren’t letting up in the fight for fair voting access ahead of the general election. In Arizona, we filed litigation challenging rules threatening to disenfranchise thousands of voters, and in Georgia and Nevada, we called out unacceptable waiting times during Tuesday’s primary elections:

Reuters: Democrats challenge rule that could toss ‘thousands’ of Arizona votes. “The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and two allied groups sued the Arizona Secretary of State to allow voters five business days after federal elections to correct ballots that may otherwise have been rejected for not having a signature. Currently, such ballots are not counted.”

Georgia Democrats On Statewide Issues, Voter Suppression On Primary Election Day. “It’s time for real solutions. We need a clean elections bill to shorten lines and make voting more accessible, we need functional vote by mail and early voting options for all voters who need them, and we need to do the work to make sure every Georgian has fair and equitable access to the ballot. In other words, we need the Secretary of State to own up to his mistakes and do his job – our democracy depends on it.” 

KSNV: Nevada Democratic Party: Voting issues ‘entirely avoidable,’ says state must do better. “Party Chair William McCurdy released a statement which says the state’s Democratic Party joined with the Democratic National Committee and several progressive alliances to address concerns of potential issues with in-person voting sites, including limited access for locations and the possibility of long lines. ‘The disaster that was hours-long wait times and Nevadans voting well past midnight on election night are the exact problems we worked to avoid,’ McCurdy said.”

MORE BATTLEGROUND READS: 

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