MEMORANDUM

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: DNC Press Office

DATE: Monday, September 21, 2020

RE: 200,000 COVID-19 Deaths and the impact of Trump’s Presidency on Latino Americans

The United States is about to surpass 200,000 COVID-19 death toll. Unfortunately, nearly 200,000 of our fellow Americans are gone because of this president’s failure to lead.

Latino communities have been among the hardest hit by this crisis and Trump’s incompetent response. As a significant portion of the essential workforce, Latinos have been dramatically exposed to this deadly virus as data reveals that of the nearly 200,000 coronavirus deaths, more than 38,470 are Latinos. 

Donald Trump’s failure to contain the pandemic has had major consequences for the community’s most vulnerable population, those 65 and older. For some context, the CDC data tells us that the majority of deaths, 78 percent, are people over age 65. In the case of Latinos, they only represent 8.4% of the population over 65; but they account for 20.8% of all COVID deaths. 

Donald Trump knew that COVID was dangerous and harmful to young people, yet publicly he told the American people they were “almost immune.” We now know that younger Latinos are more likely to die at a younger age than their white contemporaries from Covid-19 as data tells us that Latino children represent 45 percent of all 121 Covid-19 deaths of those under the age of 21, and 18 percent of the deaths occured in those under the age of 55.

The deaths of thousands of young and older Latinos in the U.S. during this pandemic can only be summed up by the words of Arizonan Kristin Urquiza, who lost her father to the coronavirus in June, as she said “Donald Trump may not have caused the coronavirus, but his dishonesty and his irresponsible actions made it so much worse.”

Trump’s botched response to COVID not only cost an untold number of lives, he has driven our economy into a recession. Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus has cost over 13 million Americans their jobs and forced more than 100,000 small businesses to close for good. The economic impact continues to disproportionately affect people of color as unemployment for Latinos sits at 10.5%. Worst of all, Trump and his Republican enablers in Congress are blocking real relief for hard working Latino workers. Instead of taking bold action, Senate Republicans voted on a bill that doesn’t do enough to fight the  virus, abandons state and local governments struggling with the fallout from the pandemic, and ignores families facing hunger and homelessness.

Despite these staggering figures, the president refuses to acknowledge the severity of the devastation — telling undecided voters in an ABC News town hall last week that “I think we did a great job” with the pandemic response and that he had no regrets. The pandemic has proved to be the worst health crisis in modern history, and the inadequate response by Donald Trump and his failed administration has resulted in substantial health and economic ramifications that have crashed particularly hard on the Latino communities. 

Latinos made more gains than any other ethnic group under the ACA, but Trump’s lawsuit seeking to overturn the law risks kicking millions off of their health care and ending protections for those with preexisting conditions.

•  Trump’s health care sabotage jeopardizes significant gains among Hispanic communities.
• Trump proposed massive cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage for about 32% of non-elderly Hispanics.
• The ACA has been a lifeline during the pandemic, and many coronavirus patients experience long-term complications that could qualify as pre-existing conditions and lead to denied coverage if Trump’s lawsuit succeeds.

Trump has failed to look out for the economic wellbeing of Latino Americans. Instead of bringing wage growth and job creation to Latino communities, Trump has made it harder for Latinos to succeed.

• Latinx-owned businesses suffered as the Trump administration botched the delivery of assistance to minority-owned small businesses hurt by the coronavirus.
• As Trump failed to mount a serious response to the coronavirus, unemployment has been particularly high for Latino workers and business owners. As of August, Latino unemployment remains in double-digits at 10.5%.
• According to NBC News, at least 72 percent of Latino households are facing serious financial problems, including pay cuts, lack of savings and difficulties affording food and rent.
• Latinos were disproportionately left out on the benefits from Trump’s tax law, and most will actually face higher taxes by 2027.
• Trump’s budgets sought to slash funding for SNAP benefits, which help about 10 million Latinos and lifted nearly 2.5 million Latinos out of poverty in 2015 alone.
• Trump’s decision to rescind DACA and eliminate protections for TPS recipients could devastate Latino communities and the entire U.S. economy.