DNC Chair Tom Perez, Rep. Gwen Moore and Local Leaders Slam Trump on Call on Wisconsin Economy

“America simply can’t afford four more years of Donald Trump.”

Today, June 10, DNC Chair Tom Perez joined Congresswoman Gwen Moore, State Representative Greta Neubauer, AFL-CIO State-Treasurer Dennis Delie, and Wisconsin farmer Tina Hinchley for a press call to discuss the May jobs report and the unemployment crisis that has been exacerbated due to Trump’s failed coronavirus response and his broken promises to Wisconsin. They also discussed Trump’s failure to stand up to China, and the state of the Trump economy for Wisconsinites, where unemployment is north of 14%.

The May jobs report indicated that Americans are still facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Nationally, more than one-fourth of the American workforce has now filed for unemployment insurance, including over 600,000 Wisconsinites, and the death toll from the coronavirus in the United States is over 110,000.

On Monday, the DNC published a poll of battleground states, including Wisconsin, in which voters overwhelmingly expressed their view that Trump’s response to the coronavirus has made the economic crisis worse.

DNC Chair Tom Perez: “You don’t need a poll to figure out that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites are struggling. […] In December, January, and February when he should have been paying attention to this. Instead he was all too focused on cutting a trade deal with China. […] It’s a trade deal that has hurt Wisconsinites, and it has exacerbated a once-in-a-generation crisis for farmers […] Wisconsin in 2019 was the farm bankruptcy capital of America. 1 in 10 dairy farms, as you know, closed last year, countless others are hanging by a thread. […] The situation is no better for people in manufacturing, who saw 4,100 jobs leaving Wisconsin in 2019. […] America simply can’t afford four more years of Donald Trump. These jobs reports, over the last three months, show the broken economy that we are dealing with, make painfully clear that we need change, and we will get that change in the form of Joe Biden, and we will continue to work our tails off in partnership.”

Rep. Gwen Moore: “People of color really are being caught on  the brunt of this economic meltdown, really mirroring the Depression era. Certainly with unemployment among African Americans and those folks of Latinx origin being something at like 20%. That is not something to be celebrating at all, as a matter of fact, those are Depression-era figures.”

State Rep. Greta Neubauer: “I have watched over the last several months, in horror, as my constituents have seen their jobs disappear, their savings diminished because of how poorly Trump has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Storefronts on Main Street are shuttered. […] If there is anything we have learned under the last 3.5 years under Trump, it’s that we know ultimately, he does not care about our well being. All he has done is make broken promise, after broken promise, after broken promise. He has lied to us, and he has attempted to divide us. He has not earned our votes, he has broken our trust. I know Racine, Wisconsin, and our country can get through this turbulent time and come out the otherside, but that will be impossible if Trump is in office for another four years.”

Local Farmer Tina Hinchley: “As farmers, we have been used as political pawns time and again after Trump has promised us over and over that he’d have our backs. His trade wars were not worth the pain, as he merely maintained the status quo while crushing the markets that took decades to create. In short, Trump was rolled by China. He promised us $50 billion in purchases and we’re only getting $13 billion. For Trump this was nothing more than a game, but for us and thousands of farmers across Wisconsin, it’s our livelihood and our way of life that’s in his crosshairs.”

AFL-CIO State Treasurer Dennis Delie: “For working class citizens across the state, Donald Trump has consistently failed to provide for them time and time again. […] They were absolutely terrible jobs numbers. These aren’t just numbers. These are people, these are human beings, and they’re people like you and me and they’re just trying to pay their rent, afford their health care, and provide for their families. […] When Donald Trump ran in 2016, he masqueraded as a champion for the working class people of Wisconsin and across the country  — the very people that we at the Wisconsin AFL-CIO advocate for — well, that couldn’t have been any further from the truth. And it’s  proven to be nothing more than a farce time and time again. Donald Trump’s callousness towards working people has never been more apparent than in his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”