ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA- Ahead of Donald Trump’s stop at the Bemidji airport today, DFL Party leaders held a press call slamming the Trump administration for its failed response to the coronavirus pandemic, his divisive rhetoric, and the harmful impacts of his policies on workers across Minnesota. Featured on the call were DFL Chair Ken Martin, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Brad Lehto, State Rep. John Persell (5A), Obama health care advisor Andy Slavitt, and Rev. Rob Kopp of the Bemidji United Methodist Church.
Full audio from the call here.
Excerpts from the call
DFL Party Chair Ken Martin: “Both Biden and Trump will be in Minnesota tomorrow to help kick off the first day of early voting where Minnesota will become one of the first states in the nation to actually cast votes in this critical presidential contest and we’re super excited about that. But while Joe Biden will talk with voters in Duluth about his plans to build back better after this pandemic, Donald Trump will undoubtedly spew dangerous lies about the state of our country in hopes to distract Minnesotans from the reality of his failed administration. And you know what? Minnesotans are not going to be fooled. From his attacks on Social Security and Medicare to his trade policies that hurt our farmers, we know that Trump is not on the side of hardworking Minnesotans. And to make matters worse, Donald Trump admitted that he lied to the American people from the very start of this pandemic for his own political gain. As a result, over 80,000 Minnesotans have been infected by the virus, and thousands are still left without work. Minnesotans and Americans deserve better. Starting on September 18, the very day that Trump is in Minnesota, voters will flock to vote early for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Tina Smith and DFLers up and down the ballot and we are so excited to kick early voting off tomorrow with Joe Biden here in Minnesota.”
Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan:“As Trump visits Bemidji tomorrow, I want to make sure that you know, I am highlighting the detrimental impact that he has had on tribes across the country. Bemidji is home to numerous Native communities. We’ve got White Earth and Red Lake and Leech Lake and a really robust community of Native folks who live in Bemidji. So it’s worth pointing out as a result of his failed response to COVID-19. Some tribal communities have faced among the highest per capita infection rates in the country, and in some cases quadrupling the proportion of population. The Trump administration refused to share health data with tribal public health agencies that they were sharing with state public health agencies, hindering tribes’ ability, you know, to respond to this crisis. But his terrible record on tribal engagement is not unique to COVID-19. He has displayed a consistent lack of respect for tribal sovereignty, something that the governor and I have taken incredibly seriously in the state ever since we were elected. Donald Trump has completely dismantled any semblance of a nation-to-nation relationship between the government and our tribal nations. Trump and the Republican Congress have taken absolutely zero action on the Violence Against Women Act, still refusing to bring it up for reauthorization. And this is an act that was championed by then-Senator Joe Biden, by Vice President Joe Biden, and the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife, Sheila, who did a tremendous job ensuring that survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault were seen and heard and valued. And in the native community when we experience violence at a disproportionate rate, the fact that Trump hasn’t taken action on this is appalling.”
Majority Leader Ryan Winkler:“The contrast we are going to see tomorrow could not be more stark or clear for Minnesotans as they go to vote starting tomorrow and all the way through Election Day. In Bemidji, we are likely to see a candidate who is focused on dividing us. Who is focused on ignoring the advice and recommendations of the most talented Americans with respect to this pandemic, the most talented people that we can bring forward to make suggestions now to keep ourselves safe, our family safe and our community safe. And to disparage people who actually are doing their best to keep us safe and healthy. Making the job of first responders nervous…Frankly, it makes me concerned for the health and safety of my family and friends in the Bemidji community. My parents have been very careful about COVID. A lot of our family has been very careful about COVID. And I’m afraid a lot of people are going to be coming into town tomorrow, who are not so concerned about the health and safety of the people in that community. In contrast, we’re going to see Joe Biden talking with Minnesotans focusing on American workers talking with carpenters and seeing a carpenters training facility because Joe Biden has always been a pro-labor Democrat. He has always put workers first, middle class and working class American families first, and he will continue to do that as President.”
Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Brad Lehto:“Unlike Trump, Joe Biden, you know, has a comprehensive plan to build our economy back better. And unions understand this. He’s a lifelong supporter of unions and American workers and he’s had our back and we’re going to have his back. He has a real strategy to get the economy moving and like I said, again,to build back better, build back manufacturing, innovation with a two trillion dollar investment in infrastructure, a billion in clean energy using materials made by American workers and union steel with Taconite from the Iron Range…Again, what has Donald Trump done for American workers? Under Trump, companies are not only still offshoring jobs, but he has given them taxpayer money to do so. More of Donald Trump? No thank you, can’t afford to lose even more American workers and union workers. Joe Biden as president, that’s what we need. He will think about how to improve workers’ lives every single day.”
State Rep. John Persell (5A):“For Donald Trump to disrespect veterans the way he has for — not just recently, he’s got decades of vile words for veterans. And I had the great opportunity and privilege of meeting John McCain back in 1987. And when Donald Trump said what he said about John McCain…it was just bizarre why any human being would say something like that about a decorated veteran. So the veterans aren’t very happy up here in my district. And am I talking about that? You betcha, I am.”
Former Obama health care advisor Andy Slavitt:“Joe would double the number of drive through testing sites. President Trump just closed down all of the drive thru testing sites, the Federal testing sites. He said they were no longer going to be provided by the federal government. Third, Biden is committed to an 100,000 person contact tracing workforce. This essentially will make sure that when we have cases of coronavirus, they’re stopped in their tracks and we have one or two, not 20, 30, 40, 50. This will make us feel safe. This will allow us to travel, this will allow us to go out, this will allow us to live our lives that we can’t live when we don’t know where the virus is spreading. Fourth, he has promised to guarantee first responders priority access to PPE. For the life of me, I don’t know why President Trump hasn’t done that. I just wrote a memorial for 1000 doctors and nurses that have died during the coronavirus and I read their letters. I read their stories. They’re begging and pleading, showing up work every day. These are people who could not hold their kid’s hands so they could hold the hands of dying people and then died themselves. Joe Biden, with the compassion he has for people who’ve lost their own children from his own experiences, he will not sleep at night, he will not sleep at night until every one of our frontline medical workers is protected.”
Rev. Rob Kopp of the Bemidji United Methodist Church:“The President’s rally in Bemidji constitutes yet a further threat to our health by bringing in folks who will be outside vectors for bringing COVID with them. And I’m concerned about what those practices will be at the rally. Every crisis presents an opportunity for growth. In the midst of this pandemic, the President could have pulled the country together. Under his leadership, people from both parties could have worked together to resolve the crisis, and in doing so, discovered commonality and common cause. Instead, the president turned COVID-19 into a divisive political issue. Following the words of his leadership, there are still people in my community who believe the virus is some kind of “Democratic hoax,” And this is despite the death of one of my parishioners from the disease and many more in the community who have been infected and many more who are still suffering. It is a failure of President Trump’s leadership that our nation is so deeply divided. As a democracy, we have always had division, but we’ve seldom been this deeply divided. Good leadership is centered on listening. When it comes to pandemics, it involves listening to scientists and to science. We’ve had good listeners from both parties historically and in current times. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be much better leaders from the White House because they’re much better listeners.”