(WISCONSIN) — Ahead of Melania Trump’s visit today, 67th Assembly District Candidate Chris Kapsner, Lincoln County Party Chair Melissa Schroeder– whose child has pre-existing conditions and relies on the ACA, and Eau Claire City Council Member Andrew Werthmann held a video press conference to blast Trump and his administration for their failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic which has crushed Wisconsin’s economy, all while attempting to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Trump and the Republican party have made it clear that they are giving up on fighting the pandemic, and giving up on Wisconsinites.
Watch the full event here or see excerpts of what the speakers said below:
Andrew Werthmann: “Here in Eau Claire, we are on the brink of being overwhelmed by COVID-19… at the local level, we are being left to fend for ourselves, without the tools that we desperately needed… Meanwhile, we have Vice President Pence, we have Donald Trump, we have members of the Trump team who are coming through Wisconsin and holding these massive rallies that not only endanger people and put peoples’ lives at risk, spreading this deadly disease, but they send the wrong message about how serious this actually is in our state… It’s clear that Donald has stopped listening to the science and stopped listening to experts… November 3rd presents an opportunity to change course on this, and by electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, put people in charge who take this virus seriously and give us the tools that we need at a local level and at the state level to keep Americans safe… Trump has really left the farming community in the dust… it doesn’t have to be this way, it’s clear to me that Donald Trump has essentially left Wisconsin to fend for ourselves. To me this represents a chance to send a strong message that we need leaders who are going to listen to the science, we need leaders who are going to make a plan, we need leaders who are going to support our state and local leaders, and we need leaders who actually just care about the people in our state and care about their livelihoods. So I am proud to cast my vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Democrats up and down the ballot.”
Melissa Schroeder: “Health care has always been personal to me, but it got real personal to me earlier this year. My daughter was experiencing some joint pain earlier this year, and by July, she was physically unable to get out of bed or care for her infant daughter… Just because we live in northern Wisconsin doesnt mean that we shouldnt have access to adequate health care… The Republicans– Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Robin Vos, and the rest of them– have forgotten about the very people they claim to care about in northern Wisconsin… Ultimately she could lose the only safety net that she could have, and that’s the ACA, because Donald Trump and the Republicans are actively working to destroy the ACA… That’s why I’m voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, because health care is important. Health care in Northern Wisconsin is important, and access to it is important. We have folks that may not have enough health care coverage, or access to health care coverage, and that means they likely die. That may sound drastic, but in fact it is. Especially now when the COVID crisis is surging here… That’s why I’m voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They know us. They know the struggles that we have. They will put people first, rather than policies and politics.”
Chris Kapsner: “We’re coming onto November, and we still are struggling to get PPE, we still struggle to get enough testing for COVID, there isn’t enough contact tracing, and worst of all there’s no strategy and there’s no embrace of common sense public health policies of wearing a mask… Here we are in a pandemic, and what the Republican Party has been doing for the last ten years, it’s been real and replace the Affordable Care Act, and really it’s just been repeal… The gates of hell have opened up, we have a pandemic, our economy is tanking, and you’re tearing apart the Affordable Care Act… Please get out and vote Democrat up and down the entire ticket.”
