“Nine months into the pandemic and as cases skyrocket in the Green Bay region and across Wisconsin, he still doesn’t have a plan to get this pandemic under control and to help our communities reopen safely, effectively and sustainably.”

On Friday, former Packers Hall of Fame Coach Mike Holmgren penned an op-ed in the Wisconsin State Journal outlining how President Trump’s failure to manage the coronavirus is hurting the city of Green Bay and why it is time “to take President Trump off the field.”

According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, each Packers home game provides $15 million in economic impacts to the city of Green Bay. Overall, the Packers contribute more than $160 million per year to Green Bay’s economy.

Wisconsin State Journal: Mike Holmgren: Vote to take President Trump off the field

In more than three decades of coaching, I’ve come to learn one thing: You cannot be afraid to take a player off the field if it will help the team.

Donald Trump said he alone could fix the challenges facing our country. But as we’ve seen during these past four years, he’s in over his head — and we’re all paying the price for that. It’s time to take President Trump off the field.

Months into this pandemic, coronavirus cases are continuing to skyrocket in Wisconsin. More than 1,500 Wisconsinites have lost their lives to the pandemic. Green Bay, a city I love dearly, is seeing some of the highest infection rates in the country. Hospitals are overflowing, people are hurting, and families are needlessly suffering. More than 4,000 fewer people in Green Bay are employed now, compared to when President Trump took office. Far too many small businesses have had to close their doors for good. And the heart and soul of Green Bay — our game days with thousands of fans at Lambeau Field — are no more.

President Trump’s failure to mount a forceful response to the coronavirus pandemic will go down as one of the most consequential failures of government in American history. In Green Bay alone, the indefinite hold on fans at Lambeau Field — yet another consequence of President Trump’s failed leadership — is proving devastating to Green Bay’s small businesses. Each Packers home game provides $15 million in economic impacts to the city of Green Bay — but not this year.

Worse yet, it didn’t have to be this bad. President Trump knew in February how dangerous the virus was, but he wasted precious time downplaying the threat and dismissing it as a hoax. He lied to the American people and failed to lead at every turn. Nine months into the pandemic and as cases skyrocket in the Green Bay region and across Wisconsin, he still doesn’t have a plan to get this pandemic under control and to help our communities reopen safely, effectively and sustainably.

Joe Biden does. Biden has a real plan to beat this pandemic, the experience to help us build back better, and the empathy to help our country heal. He and President Obama successfully protected our country from the Ebola outbreak, and helped our country recover after the Great Recession in 2008. Biden is the leader we need to move our country forward.

But make no mistake: This election is going to be close. Every single one of us needs to do our part. Wisconsin has given me and my family too much for me to sit on the sidelines and watch President Trump move the state backward. That’s why I’ll be voting early for Biden, and you should too. The stakes are too high this time for any one of us to sit on the sidelines.

With only days remaining, consider this the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. Go to iwillvote.com/WI and make a plan to vote early. Then tell your family and at least five of your friends to do the same.

Let’s get it done, Wisconsin.

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