GOP Set to Run Pro-Trump Campaign, Against Science and Public Opinion
Entering Candidate Filing Week, GOP Gives Washingtonians Preview of Campaign Message for the Fall
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 11, 2020
SEATTLE — This week, as candidates all across Washington prepare to file for office, Washington state Republicans are preparing to run on a peculiar political platform:
- Against Public Opinion: Despite poll, after poll, after poll, after poll , after poll showing the vast majority of Washingtonians and Americans support following health guidelines and science and reject Donald Trump, the Washington GOP is running on mass infection, herd immunity, and partisan stunts.
- Pro-Trump: Every single GOP candidate for governor isn’t politically distancing themselves from President Trump, they are embracing his failed leadership and his agenda to “terminate” health care for more than 550,000 and strip pre-existing condition protections more than 3.1 million Washingtonians ….during a pandemic.
- Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times watched a GOP candidate forum and remarked, “The five candidates acted like they were running for governor of Oklahoma….who all strongly endorse the re-election of Donald Trump.” And worse, he noted that as every one of them had engaged in dangerous and irresponsible protests, “They never once spoke of the public health aspect of the crisis gripping the nation. They never talked about the virus….They seemed oblivious that something involving health was going on at all.”
- Anti-Science That Threatens Lives and Jobs: The GOP opening plan, supported and pushed by members of the state GOP and candidates for office, is mass infection and death. Their calls for “herd immunity” are reckless, irresponsible, and not based on any scientific or health expert guidelines. These dangerous prescriptions betray every health care and essential worker on the frontlines and the sacrifice of millions of Washingtonians who are staying safe and following health guidelines. The WA GOP has yet to put forward a single public health expert to support this mass infection plan. And worst of all, these protests and mass gatherings make it harder for our state to reopen our economy and get back to work.
- Anti-Domestic Violence Protections: Yes really. This isn’t a typo. On Saturday, against the wishes of prosecutors and local sheriffs, Washington Republican Leadership blocked an extension of emergency protections for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
“For the second election cycle in a row, the Washington State GOP is proving to be Trump’s party from top to bottom,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “Trump’s chaotic, failed leadership has cost our country tens of thousands of lives and millions of jobs, and the last month of partisan political stunts amidst a pandemic shows the WA GOP have nothing better to offer the people of Washington.”
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