Today, all 23 Democratic attorneys general signed a letter endorsing Joe Biden for President of the United States. In the letter, the attorneys general said Vice President Biden will be “a President with the commitment and compassion to unite, the character and dedication to lead, and the knowledge and experience to govern.” They cited the Trump-backed Republican attorneys general lawsuit to invalidate the Affordable Care Act and wrote that “Donald Trump’s efforts to strip health care away from tens of millions of Americans, including those with preexisting conditions, is immoral and unlawful.”
Read the full letter below.
We, a diverse coalition of state attorneys general, charged with defending the rights of our states and their residents, and committed to protecting and upholding the rule of law, proudly endorse Joseph R. Biden for president of the United States.
As state attorneys general, each of us swore to discharge dual roles as both the chief counsel for the states we represent and the “people’s lawyer” for our constituents. We ran for this office to protect the most vulnerable among us and to hold accountable those who would seek to harm and exploit them.
Unfortunately, our offices, individually and collectively, have been forced to sue the current administration time and time again for unlawfully putting our constituents and our democracy at risk.
In fact, the Trump Administration continues to back the Republican attorneys general lawsuit to destroy the Affordable Care Act wholesale, as states across the country are confronting the harrowing reality of the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 122,000 Americans. Donald Trump’s efforts to strip health care away from tens of millions of Americans, including those with preexisting conditions, is immoral and unlawful; his mismanagement of the pandemic has been incompetent and catastrophic; and his response to the public protests of the killing of George Floyd has been callous and divisive.
We need a president with the commitment and compassion to unite, the character and dedication to lead, and the knowledge and experience to govern. We need a president who will work with the people, not against them. We need Joe Biden.
Joe Biden is the leader we trust to guide us out of this unprecedented health, economic, and social justice crisis. Under Joe Biden’s leadership, public health will be prioritized and health care will be reimagined. Rather than seeking to destroy the Affordable Care Act, Joe Biden will build on its progress. Rather than trying to gut Medicare and Medicaid, Joe Biden will increase funding and expand access. Rather than appointing anti-choice judges and restricting Title X funding, Joe Biden will protect reproductive health care. Rather than declaring open season for health care discrimination against transgender Americans, Joe Biden will implement a comprehensive LGBTQ+ health care agenda. Rather than spreading misinformation and sidelining experts, Joe Biden will ensure that public health decisions are made by public health professionals and not politicians. Rather than fanning the flames of racism, Joe Biden will help us heal our national wound of systemic racism and reform our criminal justice system.
We know Joe Biden can lead in tough times, because we have seen him do it.
We are proud of the work we have done to protect progress, but we are ready for the day when the federal government is our partner in seeking justice for our people, not a source of injustice against them. We are ready for experience, competence, compassion and decency in the White House. We are ready for Joe Biden.
Full List of Attorneys General:
- New York AG Letitia James
- Massachusetts AG Maura Healey
- Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum
- District of Columbia AG Karl Racine
- Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro
- California AG Xavier Becerra
- Nevada AG Aaron Ford
- Connecticut AG William Tong
- Colorado AG Phil Weiser
- Delaware AG Kathleen Jennings
- Illinois AG Kwame Raoul
- Iowa AG Tom Miller
- Maine AG Aaron Frey
- Maryland AG Brian Frosh
- Michigan AG Dana Nessel
- Minnesota AG Keith Ellison
- New Mexico AG Hector Balderas
- North Carolina AG Josh Stein
- Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha
- Vermont AG TJ Donovan
- Virginia AG Mark Herring
- Washington AG Bob Ferguson
- Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul
