In response to William Barr’s photo op in St. Louis today, Missouri Democratic Party Acting Chair Clem Smith released the following statement:

“Barr can’t spin Donald Trump’s failures. From lying about the severity of COVID-19 and botching our pandemic response to using his bully pulpit to divide us, Trump has endangered Missourians’ health, lives, and livelihoods time and again. Missourians don’t need another photo op, and we can’t afford four more years of this chaos and divisiveness. We need competent, unifying leadership in the White House, and we’re going to get it with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”

BACKGROUND ON TRUMP’S FAILED PANDEMIC RESPONSE

Promise: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” [CNBC Interview, Jan. 22, 2020] 

Reality: With more than 217,000 Americans dead and nearly 8 million infected, the United States has 4 percent of the world’s population but 20 percent of infections and deaths. In Missouri alone, more than 150,000 people have contracted the virus, and more than 2,400 have lost their lives.

Reality: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri COVID-19 hospitalizations reach dangerous peak. “‘Whether we’re in a second wave, or the second crest of the first, our current situation is critical, especially outside of the well-resourced metro areas,’ said Dave Dillon, spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association. The association’s weekly update on Wednesday showed the biggest increases were seen in the northern and southern regions of the state.”

Reality: CNN: Covid-19 has killed more law enforcement officers this year than all other causes combined. “More police officers have died from Covid-19 this year than have been killed on patrol. That’s according to the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP), a nonprofit organization that tracks law enforcement fatalities in the line of duty.”

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