Raleigh – In response to Mike Pence and Eric Trump’s trip to North Carolina today, NCDP Communications Director Austin Cook released the following statement:
“Mike Pence and Eric Trump can’t cast their agenda for North Carolina as being “pro life” when more than 186,000 Americans have died and more than six million have been infected with coronavirus on Donald Trump’s watch. Today’s visits are nothing more than a distraction from that crushing reality. North Carolinians have borne the brunt of this administration’s failures to contain the spread of COVID-19, and today’s photo ops do nothing to support the families here who have lost loved ones or are battling this disease right now.”
Background on Trump’s failures to fight for North Carolinians during COVID-19
On Trump’s reckless push to reopen schools
As it pressures schools everywhere to reopen, the Trump Administration has repeatedly ignored science and claimed that children play little to no role in spreading COVID-19. During an interview, Trump said “Children are almost — and I would almost say definitely, but almost immune from this disease, so few” even though more than 18,000 children under 18 have been infected with coronavirus in North Carolina, with the state reporting that dozens of children are experiencing severe conditions after being infected.
A week after Pence and DeVos visited a private school to tout its reopening, a sister campus was forced to quarantine students after a student tested positive for COVID-19.
On seniors
As COVID-19 ripped through nursing homes, the Trump Administration failed to provide facilities with needed resources and pushed ahead with efforts to relax regulations. As of Mid-August, almost half of all coronavirus deaths in North Carolina are linked to nursing homes.
Despite promising North Carolinians at a Raleigh rally that he would “save and protect your Social Security and Medicare,” Trump has repeatedly threatened to defund Social Security and Medicare, which would hurt millions of North Carolina residents.
On health care
The ACA has been a lifeline during the pandemic, and many COVID-19 patients experience long-term complications that could qualify as pre-existing conditions if Trump’s suit succeeds, leading to individuals being charged more or dropped from their insurance altogether. Yet Trump is moving forward with the lawsuit anyway.
If Trump gets his way and the ACA is overturned, 503,000 North Carolinians would lose coverage by repealing the Affordable Care Act, leading to a 43 percent increase in the uninsured rate.
On communities of color
Coronavirus has disproportionately hurt communities of color. While Hispanics make up less than 10 percent of North Carolina’s population, they account for 38 percent of the state’s COVID-19 cases. And Black North Carolinians represent 21 percent of the population, but 28 percent of COVID-19 cases.
Despite the disproportionate toll on minorities, the Trump administration has not yet developed a plan to reach minority groups with its vaccination efforts.