(MADISON, WI) — The Coronavirus pandemic has continued to make clear that Donald Trump’s priorities lie with satisfying the Chinese Government and protecting his own wallet — not helping Wisconsinites.
“When it comes to priorities, Donald Trump has been a China-first president,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Philip Shulman said. “Trump put farmers, manufacturers, and hardworking families through hell and back only to deliver a trade deal that appeased China. Then he took the word of their president and government over our own intelligence community about the spread of the coronavirus pandemic which they tried to conceal. He went so far as to send China millions of pieces of PPE that our frontline workers desperately need, and implemented a “travel ban” that still let in 40,000 people. This is Trump’s China-first policy in action — using Wisconsinites and Americans as a battering ram for his failed policies. November can’t come soon enough when we can elect a president in Joe Biden who actually stands up for our interests.”
A recent report revealed that Trump owes China’s national bank $211 million, helping explain why from the outset of the pandemic Trump bent the knee to President Xi and his government. Trump praised them at least 15 times for their handling of COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.
Beyond taking the word of the Chinese government over his own intelligence agency, Trump ignored the warnings of PPE shortages and shipped over 18 tons of these supplies to China. These are the very supplies frontline doctors in Wisconsin and across America are so desperate for, and now what the federal government is paying for at higher prices.
Trump finally changed his tune to blame China, despite knowing early on of their mismanagement and attempts to cover it up, when it became politically inconvenient to continue appeasing them. He implemented a “travel-ban” from China that still let 40,000 people into the United states, on top of the 400,000 individuals he let in the month after learning of the outbreak.
The damage Trump has done to Wisconsinites by placating China extends well beyond the Coronavirus. For most of 2019 he dragged Wisconsin farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses through the mud as he pursued a chaotic trade war. During that time, Wisconsin lost a record 818 dairy farms and lost more than 4,100 manufacturing jobs. Trump’s trade war also hit hard-working families, potentially costing them over $1,000 a year.
During this time Trump claimed farmers were “over the hump,” while his Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, told the small and medium-size farms that polka-dot Wisconsin they simply had to get bigger if they wanted to survive. What’s more is the multi-billion dollar taxpayer funded bailout they used to supplement the Agriculture industry went primarily to large producers that could weather the trade war.
Trump ultimately signed a trade deal in the middle of January, less than two weeks after receiving his first intelligence briefing about the Coronavirus. The deal did so little for farmers that as of March many are still relying on government aid to stay above water.
