As Jill and Joe Biden Travel to FL, NH, PA, and WI, the Trump Admin Continues Their Attacks on Americans’ Health Care

As Jill and Joe Biden traveled to Florida, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, here’s what Biden for President has been up to this week:

In Pennsylvania:

• On Thursday, Joe Biden delivered a speech in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he slammed President Trump for trying to take away health insurance coverage from 23 million Americans, including critical protections for people with pre-existing conditions, in the midst of a pandemic. Prior to delivering his remarks, Vice President Biden met with families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act, including parents of children with cancer and other chronic diseases. READ in Harrisburg Patriot-News, READ in NBC News, READ in The New York Times

• While in Lancaster, Biden spoke with WGAL where he discussed President Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus, how he would respond to the current crisis, and how a Biden Administration would protect and expand the Affordable Care Act. WATCH on WGAL

In Florida, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin:

• On Thursday and Friday, Jill Biden held a series of virtual events on the Affordable Care Act with Congressman Charlie Crist in Tampa, Florida, Senator Maggie Hassan in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Senator Kamala Harris in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Members of the Tampa, Manchester, and Milwaukee communities shared their stories about the ways the ACA has helped improve their lives and the importance of having a president who will treat health care as a fundamental right. READ in the Sentinel Source

Defending the Affordable Care Act:

• In Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and Virginia, Biden for President joined local leaders and community members for conversations about the importance of protecting and expanding the Affordable Care Act — particularly as the Trump Administration filed their brief with the Supreme Court to invalidate the ACA. WATCH on WMSN Madison

Adding to our “team of killers:”

• This week, Biden for President announced senior staff hires in three key states: North Carolina, Nevada, and Wisconsin. READ in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, READ in The News and Observer, READ in the Nevada Independent, READ in POLITICO, Read in AP
  • Wisconsin
    • Danielle Melfi, State Director
    • Scott Spector, Senior Advisor
    • Garren Randolph, Deputy State Director
    • Shirley Ellis, Strategic Advisor
  • North Carolina
    • L.T. McCrimmon, State Director
    • Maggie Thompson, State Advisor and Chief of Staff
    • Scott Falmlen, Strategic Advisor
  • Nevada
    • Yvanna Cancela, Senior Advisor
    • Alana Mounce, State Director
    • Shelby Wiltz, Coordinated Director

In Arizona:

• As President Trump visited Yuma and Phoenix on Tuesday, Joe Biden blasted the Trump Administration for its handling of the coronavirus, which has led to more than 50,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 1,300 deaths in Arizona. READ in the Arizona Republic:
  • Make no mistake: this visit is a distraction. It’s a distraction from Donald Trump’s failed response to combat the spread of COVID-19. It’s a distraction from his failure to get Americans — including many in Arizona — the testing we need. It’s a distraction from his inability to offer a concrete, effective reopening plan that’s rooted in science and public health. It’s a distraction from his corrupt recovery that failed to get small businesses and working families the resources they needed to weather this pandemic. Mr. President, this disease is rearing its head in Arizona again and families are hurting. Arizonans deserve a President who will rise to the moment amid the challenges we face today. 
• On Saturday, Biden for President hosted a roundtable discussion with United Farm Workers Co-founder and labor activist Dolores Huerta and Los Angeles County Supervisor and former Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on Joe Biden’s Plan for an Effective Re-Opening That Jumpstarts the Economy. During the roundtable, participants discussed the impact of Arizona’s rushed reopening on working families, the lack of access to resources like testing and PPE, and what they need from the government to get back to work safely. Solis and Huerta also emphasized the need to institutionalize change by electing Joe Biden in November.

In Wisconsin: 

• As Mike Pence visited Waukesha on Tuesday, Biden for President Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield criticized the Trump Administration for another damage control tour. READ in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
  • “Donald Trump has gambled with the health of Wisconsin families to benefit his own political fortune at every turn. And once again — just days after Trump admitted he ordered COVID-19 testing to be slowed down during the middle of a global pandemic — Mike Pence is back in Wisconsin to clean up Trump’s mess. While Trump’s admission was stunning and outrageous, there are few actions that have done more damage to public health than Trump’s reckless order to slow down testing.”
• Ahead of Donald Trump’s misguided victory lap in Marinette on Friday, Senator Tammy Baldwin outlined her efforts and partnership with the Obama-Biden Administration to grow the shipbuilding industry in Wisconsin, support good-paying jobs, and ensure Marinette’s competitiveness for future Navy contracts. READ in WisPolitics:
  • It took deliberate action in 2010 from the Obama-Biden Administration and the Navy to ensure that half of the ships would be built in Wisconsin because that made the most sense based on cost and capability of the Marinette shipyard. This action by the previous administration long before President Trump took office ensured that Marinette would be competitive for future Navy programs, like the Frigate. Now we have an opportunity to ensure that this legacy of building and supplying the Navy continues in future decades.

In Ohio:

• As Vice President Pence visited Lordstown, the location where President Trump failed to protect American jobs when General Motors closed down its plant costing 4,500 Ohioans their jobs, Biden for President Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield slammed the Trump Administration for its failure to respond to the coronavirus. READ in Cleveland.com:
  • “While Mike Pence tries his best to distract Ohioans from the Administration’s botched response to the public health crisis, working families across the state are suffering. Over 2,700 Ohioans have died from the coronavirus, the unemployment rate in Ohio is the highest it’s been in more than 4 decades, and 863,000 Ohioans are at risk of losing their health care due to the Trump Administration’s reckless lawsuit to invalidate the (Obamacare).”

Celebrating Pride Month:

• Biden for President hosted a series of Pride Celebrations this week in Florida, Michigan, and Nebraska featuring Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy in Florida, Attorney General Dana Nessel in Michigan, Executive Director of Black and Pink Dominique Morgan in Nebraska, and local residents in each state. The participants discussed the LGBTQ+ issues at stake in this election, as well as the importance of mobilizing the community in November to protect and expand LGBTQ+ rights at the federal level. Key Quote from Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy:
  • Joe Biden believes, as I do, that every human being should be treated with respect and dignity, and be free to live without fear no matter who they are or who they love. And during the Obama-Biden Administration, the United States made historic strides to LGBTQ equality, from the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ to Biden’s historic declaration of support for marriage equality on Meet the Press in 2012, to the unprecedented advancement of protections for LGBTQ Americans at the federal level.”  

In Virginia:

• On Saturday, Hareth Andrade, a DACA recipient living in Northern Virginia, penned an op-ed on the need to elect Joe Biden to strengthen protections for DACA recipients like her. READ in NoVA:
  • “…we need more than just a temporary reprieve from fearing for our basic rights.  It’s time for us to be codified into American law – and we will get there by voting for and electing candidates like Joe Biden as President.”