This morning — one year out from the general election — Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, Pennsylvania Attorney General and DAGA Executive Committee Member Josh Shapiro, and DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa held a press conference call to discuss the headwinds Trump is facing across the battleground states and how Democrats are building the general election infrastructure to defeat him in 2020 and bring home wins up and down the ballot. 

On the call, speakers discussed Trump’s broken promises, why voters will hold him accountable for his record, and the historic, early investments Democrats are making to prepare for the general election.   

This morning, the DNC also announced a new general election unity program to help ensure the eventual nominee has the full support of all elements of the party and facilitate the transition of a primary campaigns’ infrastructure into supporting Democrats’ general election efforts. 

“People are sick and tired of a president who can’t keep his word, who only cares about himself, and who makes everyone else pay the price for his chronic ineffectiveness,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. “In virtually every state we are looking at polling that shows Trump’s net approval has decreased by double digits since he has taken office.” Perez added, “On issue after issue, Trump has broken his promises, and under his administration now the middle class is facing higher health care costs, stagnating wages, and less opportunity for them and their families. So these are the stakes of this election. Here’s how we’re going to beat him: by making historic, early investments and building the infrastructure our eventual nominee will need to compete and to win.” 

“The people of Pennsylvania see the president for who he really is — ineffective, chaotic and constantly disrespecting our laws and our institutions. Making decisions based on what is best for him, not what is best for them,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “At every turn, everyday Pennsylvanians are paying the price. What I know and what have have proven is that we know how to beat Donald Trump. We know how to beat him in the courtroom and, as we have proven, we know how to beat him at the ballot box.”

“We are making early, historic investments across a wide map of battleground states to lay the groundwork for the eventual nominee,” said DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa. “That’s why we have launched Organizing Corps, which is an unprecedented training and field program that will train 1,000 field organizers by the spring.” Hinojosa added, “It’s why we have rebuilt our data technology infrastructure, and instituted a state of the art technology, and why our War Room is holding Trump accountable every day at the national level, and localizing and defining his record of broken promises in the states.” 

Recording from call available upon request.

The DNC is making historic, early investments across the battleground states to lay the groundwork for our eventual nominee to defeat Trump in 2020, including: launching Organizing  Corps 2020, an unprecedented field and training program across 7 states;  funding communications staff in six states working with the DNC’s War Room to define and localize Trump’s record; funding organizing staff in eight states who are working to mobilize key communities; building a state-of-the-art, cloud-based data warehouse with investments in our data to ensure Democrats have an accurate view of every voter; and increasing our monthly investment in every state party by 33 percent since this time in 2015.