MEMORANDUM
TO: Interested Parties

FROM: DNC War Room

DATE: Friday, August 21, 2020

RE: Republican Convention: Trump’s Chaos Presidency

The DNC War Room and the Biden campaign today announced a slate of counter convention programming during the upcoming Republican National Convention to remind Americans that Trump has really only delivered on one thing — a Chaos Presidency.

Trump’s chaotic presidency and failed leadership has plunged our country into crisis. Families are not able to send their children back to school safely. Millions of workers have been laid off. The economy is shrinking at a record pace. The pandemic is still not under control as Trump tries to take away health care from millions of people. Americans know we can’t trust Trump with the lives of our children and our families, with our economy, with our health care, and with our country. We need the steady, unifying, experienced leadership of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to build our country back better.

Each day of the convention will focus on a separate crisis Trump’s chaos has created or made worse. The DNC War Room and Biden for President will hold daily video press briefings with top level surrogates like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senator Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Rep. Val Demings along with Biden for President deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield and Biden for President senior advisor Symone Sanders, to discuss the RNC and Trump’s chaos presidency.

Throughout the week, the War Room will also release television and digital ads nationally and in the battleground states focused on the many ways Trump has failed as President, host events in the battleground states to emphasize how the Chaos Presidency has cost American lives, jobs, and stability, and coordinate rapid response to the RNC stage, holding Trump and speakers accountable for their lies and misinformation, and fact checking in real time. The DNC has also organized allied groups to share stories of real people harmed by Trump using the hashtag #TrumpChaos, a webinar on best practices to counter RNC Convention disinformation, and roundtables with diverse stakeholders from across the country.

Elected officials and other surrogates will be on local and national TV throughout the week echoing the message that Trump’s chaotic presidency has plunged the country into crisis. The campaign and DNC will highlight Americans who have been hurt by Trump’s disastrous COVID-19 response. The War Room will issue fact sheets on Trump’s failed record, and announce a variety of paid media components in the coming days, including digital ad takeovers of news sites in swing states, and other activities near the locations of Trump’s events throughout the week. The War Room has coordinated with unions and other organizations to share stories of Americans hurt by Trump using the hashtag #TrumpChaos.

Unlike the Trump campaign, whose counter convention activities have been chaotic, endangered lives with rallies, largely focused on one or two states at a time, and been stepped on by their own candidate — the DNC War Room and Biden campaign have worked hand in hand to coordinate counter convention programming that spans the country.

The chaos message was one that was clearly emphasized during the DNCC speeches and programming. It emphasizes what voters already believe about Donald Trump and why his time as president has been so catastrophic.

• Democratic VP Nominee, Senator Kamala Harris: “We’re at an inflection point. The constant chaos leaves us adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone.”

• President Bill Clinton: “At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it’s a storm center. There’s only chaos.”

• First Lady Michelle Obama: “Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy.”

Finally, stay tuned for additional announcements and surprises throughout the week!

The themes of the week are below:

Monday 8/24: Families in Crisis

Press Call: Representative Val Demings

Trump’s failed handling of the coronavirus caused joint health and economic crises for families. Trump and Betsy DeVos have risked the lives of teachers and students by having no real plan to allow kids to return to school safely and they continue to lie and claim children are immune to the virus. Trump has forced parents into a childcare emergency and strained caregivers, scaled back paid leave and cut unemployment benefits. Trump failed to provide nursing homes with crucial resources and rolled back protections for residents. Now he’s further jeopardizing our seniors by trying to take funding from Social Security and Medicare to pay for his coronavirus failure. Every family has made a plan to deal with this pandemic and Trump has pulled the rug out from under them.

Tuesday 8/25: Economy in Crisis

Press Call: Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Cory Booker

Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis has wrecked our economy and put us into a recession. The economy has lost more than 6 million jobs under Trump and more than one in ten workers is unemployed. It didn’t have to be this bad but it can get worse. More than 110,000 small businesses have closed for good while the Trump administration sent hundreds of millions in aid to large corporations. While millions of families aren’t able to pay rent, Trump cut aid to unemployed workers and instead proposed new ways to help the top 1% and wealthy investors.

Wednesday 8/26: Health Care in Crisis

Press Call: Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Trump has failed to contain COVID-19 because he didn’t listen to experts, didn’t take it seriously, and didn’t have a plan. Now he wants to repeal health care for millions in the middle of a pandemic. As we pass 5 million cases and 170,000 deaths in the United States, Trump still does not have a plan to contain the virus. Trump continues to claim the virus will just “disappear,” has promoted unproven treatments instead of social distancing and mask wearing, and has called for a slowdown in testing. Trump continues to try to repeal Obamacare, which covers 20 million Americans. If he succeeds, he would allow insurance companies to reject coverage for up to 133 million Americans due to a preexisting condition — all in the midst of a global pandemic.

Thursday 8/27: Country in Crisis

Press Call: Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Americans are paying the price for Trump’s failure and chaos. We cannot afford another four years. Trump’s chaotic leadership and his divisive rhetoric and actions have made it impossible to solve the challenges that we face as a nation. We cannot trust the health, economic well being, and lives of Americans to Trump for another four years. It will get worse. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will bring this country together to solve the crises facing our nation. Their steady, unifying, experienced leadership is what we need to get control of this virus and build the country back better than before, for all of us.