(WISCONSIN) — Today, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler and former La Crosse County Board Chair Tara Johnson slammed Trump on the recent COVID-19 spikes in Wisconsin and discussed the 7th Circuit Court’s decision to drastically cut down early voting in the Badger state. Trump’s continued failure to properly address the Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in spikes across the country, including La Crosse. Now, the 7th Circuit, after ignoring a case for over three years, has decided to limit early absentee voting.
Just yesterday, Wisconsin registered 601 new COVID-19 cases, the second most since the outbreak began. La Crosse has experienced a recent surge in cases as President Trump has encouraged people not to use masks and return to life as if everything were okay; the results have been deadly.
Watch the full event here or see excerpts of the speakers’ remarks below.
Ben Wikler: “In Wisconsin and across this country we are seeing spikes of COVID-19 — and it all falls on one person: Donald Trump. 125,000 Americans are dead because of his failed response. And he continues to refuse to accept reality, merely wishing it will go away. Instead of setting an example by using a face mask, encouraging people to social distance, and using proper bench marks to let the country re-open, he’s busy sharing videos with people talking about ‘White Power,’ allowing Russia to put bounties on Americans soldiers, and is even trying to ramp down testing because he thinks fewer reported cases will somehow make him look better…Here we are just a few months from the general election, not yet knowing where things will be — whether things have gotten worse, whether we’ll be in an additional wave in November…We need to turn off this dangerous course as fast as possible, and if Donald Trump is not up to the job, we need a president who understands the gravity of this crisis, who sees this as something the president should lead us through rather than an insult to him personally, who understands that wearing a mask is a public health measure first not a political statement; a president who is willing to do to get us safe so we can open our economy that doesn’t put people at risk. We need to elect Joe Biden because Donald Trump’s response to COVID-19 has abjectly failed.”
Tara Johnson: “With no end in sight to this pandemic I see even more clearly that we need new leadership in the White House. Why do I believe Trump’s response has been a failure? It started when he took the word of China over our own intelligence community, followed by encouraging people to drink bleach as some kind of a cure, he began ignoring his own health experts, refusing to wear a mask, and then insisting on graduations and political rallies being held for his own personal gratification. When it comes to leadership and appropriate responses to the pandemic he has failed us in every imaginable way…It means caring more about Wisconsinites and the American people than poll numbers or how one looks on TV. For 20 years as a local elected official I took an oath to uphold the constitution of the state of Wisconsin and protect the residents of La Crosse County. Trump took a similar oath to protect all Americans. I don’t believe he is doing that…This president has botched this crisis. At every turn he has chosen to be partisan and political and wrong – dead wrong…When COVID hit and spread this spring when I was Chair of the La Crosse County Board I saw firsthand the disastrous effects of Trump’s failed leadership…We need a leader who will take the right steps to get us back on track…A president who will take the oath of office seriously to protect Americans…We need Joe Biden to be our next president.”
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