In response to the news that the number of Americans filing for unemployment last week increased for the first time in four months, Coronavirus War Room Director Zac Petkanas issued the following statement:
“Let’s be clear: Americans are facing a worsening economic situation as a direct result of Donald Trump’s bungled response. Despite all the rosy talk from the White House, the hard reality is that 1.4 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, marking the first weekly increase since early in the pandemic.
“However, instead of giving relief to these struggling families, Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are openly talking about slashing unemployment insurance by as much as $2,000 a month! At the same time, they are pushing for massive giveaways to the wealthy and well-connected like legal immunity for corporations that endanger their employees in the middle of a pandemic.
“This callous response to the plight of the out-of-work millions is only amplified by the fact that it was totally avoidable. It never had to be this way. Around the world, countries that took the virus seriously and contained its spread have gotten their economies back on track, and their citizens back to work.
“America is the outlier because of one person: President Trump. Instead of taking decisive action to stop the virus, he downplayed the crisis, refused to listen to experts begging him to ramp up testing and secure PPE, and rushed states to reopen before it was safe to do so. He was more concerned with salvaging his plummeting reelection chances than saving lives. And we are now paying the price for his incompetence as cases surge and the unemployment numbers skyrocket.”