MEMORANDUM

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: DNC War Room

DATE: Tuesday, June 30, 2020

RE: “Exploding”

The DNC War Room today released a television ad, “Exploding,” to highlight to critical swing voters how coronavirus is exploding again across the country because of President Trump. America is three months into this crisis, and last week the United States hit a single-day record high of more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases, with Arizona, Texas and Florida reporting their highest case numbers yet.

It didn’t have to be so bad. But Trump lied about the virus early on, saying, “it’s going to disappear.” He wasted critical time to mitigate the outbreak by refusing to push China on its coronavirus response and delayed taking action to mitigate the crisis, in an effort to not upset Beijing and secure a limited trade deal that has largely gone unfulfilled.

The Trump campaign is running ads about being tough on China, but Trump’s failure to promptly address coronavirus, lest he upset China, is maybe the most disastrous example of a president getting played by a foreign country, leading to a total catastrophe at home.

Now coronavirus is raging stronger than ever. More than 125,000 American lives have been lost, 20 million jobs destroyed, the country is in recession and the U.S. leads the world in coronavirus cases. Trump put himself and his political fortunes first. He put the health and economic well-being of the American people last, and we continue to suffer the consequences.

Coronavirus is spiking.

• Trump’s failed coronavirus response has led to a record surge in new infections, and forced some states to pause reopening plans.

• New coronavirus cases hit a daily record high last week of more than 40,000 cases, and the true number of infections could be 10 times higher than the confirmed case count.

• Seven states reached record highs in new cases over the weekend, and only two states are reporting a decline in cases.

At the time it mattered the most, Trump failed to take action to prevent coronavirus.

• January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

• February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”

• February 10: “Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.”

• February 26: “When you have 15, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”

• February 26: “This is a flu. This is like a flu.”

• February 27: “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”

Trump praised China while the Chinese government pulled one over him.

• Trump was so eager to get a bad trade deal that he repeatedly praised President Xi for his leadership and refused to demand accountability.

  • TRUMP: “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”

  • TRUMP: “Just had a long and very good conversation by phone with President Xi of China. He is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counterattack on the Coronavirus.”

  • TRUMP: “No, I think President Xi is working very, very hard. I spoke to him. He’s working very hard. I think he’s doing a very good job.”

• And as the extent of the outbreak became more clear, Trump continued to defend China’s handling of the coronavirus.

  • TRUMP: “We have a great trade deal. And we’d like to keep it, they’d like to keep it, and the relationship is good.”

  • TRUMP: “As to whether or not their numbers are accurate, I’m not an accountant from China.”

  • TRUMP: “We did a trade deal and everybody was very happy… I’m making a trade deal with China, of course I’m going to be complimentary.”

Trump got played by China on both the trade deal and coronavirus.

• Trump signed a “phase one” trade agreement with China that failed to address the structural issues that sparked his trade war in the first place. It only secured vague pledges to buy U.S. products that haven’t panned out, and won’t boost growth.

• Trump’s “phase one” trade deal failed to boost purchases of U.S. exports, it failed to even stop the bleeding by getting exports back to where they were before his damaging trade war. And China won’t come close to purchasing the $50 billion a year in U.S. agriculture that Trump promised.

Trump’s failure of leadership is hurting America.

• As a result of Trump’s failed leadership, more than 125,000 Americans are dead and our country leads the world in confirmed coronavirus cases.

• The economy is in recession. The unemployment rate reached the highest since the Great Depression. Nearly 20 million Americans are unemployed. Black and Hispanic workers have disproportionately suffered from job losses during the pandemic.

• The Trump administration botched its management of the Paycheck Protection Program, preventing small firms and businesses from getting timely aid to help weather the pandemic, while large corporations got loans. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed for good, and more than 40% of Black small businesses have had to shut down.