As Donald Trump visits Nevada this weekend, Nevada communities are still grappling with the devastating consequences of his disastrous leadership and failure to contain the coronavirus. After Trump misled the American public about the severity of the coronavirus for months and repeatedly downplayed the threat of the pandemic, Nevada communities have been left reeling.

Trump has now rescheduled in-person events throughout the weekend, showing a blatant disregard for the public health standards Nevada put in place to keep communities safe in the midst of the deadly coronavirus crisis exacerbated by Trump’s ineptitude. If Trump had offered a national strategy to contain COVID-19 months ago, instead of intentionally downplaying the virus, these emergency directives would not be necessary and thousands of Americans would still be alive.

Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II released the following statement:

“Donald Trump’s insistence on holding in-person events in Nevada is just the latest example of his putting politics ahead of public health. After intentionally misleading the American people for months on end about the threat of the coronavirus, Trump continued to endanger Americans’ health by holding multiple in-person campaign rallies across the country, ignoring the White House’s own public health recommendations. Trump is ignoring everyday Nevadans as we pay the price for Trump’s crisis with our lives and our livelihoods. This weekend, Trump will have to answer to Nevada voters for his failed leadership.” 

BACKGROUND ON TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES TO NEVADANS

Trump is putting politics ahead of public health and Nevada communities are paying the price. 

• Even after privately acknowledging that the airborne virus spreads easily through crowds in early February, Trump continued to hold six indoor campaign rallies — including one in Nevada on February 21.
  
• Last month, Trump exploited the public health crisis for partisan purposes by launching a baseless lawsuit against Assembly Bill 4, which expands mail-in and in-person voting options for the November election. If successful, Trump’s lawsuit would force vulnerable Nevada communities to choose between their health and exercising their constitutional rights. 

Trump’s utter mismanagement of the pandemic has wreaked havoc on Nevadans’ health and economic security, with communities of color being disproportionately impacted. 

• In 2016, Trump promised he would be “the greatest jobs president ever created.” [Trump Campaign Rally, Henderson, Nevada, 10/5/2016]
  
• Today, the current unemployment rate in Nevada sits at 14%, with more than 200,000 Nevadans out of work. During the height of the pandemic, Nevada had the nation’s highest unemployment rate for multiple months. 

• Trump’s failure to provide the needed federal response and resources has left hospitals stretched for staff and resources, health care workers worried about workplace safety, and nursing home staff confronting outbreaks at their facilities.
  
• In late June and July, 21% of Nevada households with children reported not having enough money to afford food for their families.

• Las Vegas has emerged as a coronavirus hotspot, with communities of color bearing the brunt of the pandemic and enduring a disproportionately high level of fatalities. For example, 42% of those who have tested positive for the coronavirus in Nevada are Latino. 

Trump is recklessly attempting to rip away health care coverage from Nevadans even in the midst of a public health crisis of his own making. 

• In 2016, Trump pledged: “We’re going to have health care that is so good and so much less expensive.” [Trump Campaign Rally, Las Vegas NV, 10/30/16]
  
• But Trump broke his promise and now, Nevada families are paying the price. For years, Trump has sought to overturn the ACA without offering any plan to replace it, effectively threatening  health care for some 300,000 Nevadans and 23 million Americans. 

Even before the pandemic took hold, Trump was actively fighting against the interest of working Nevadans. 

• Trump’s tax scam offered a windfall to the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of working families. Fifty-seven percent of Nevada’s share of Tax Cut and Job Act’s benefits went to the state’s richest 5% in 2020, not working families.