A curious document is circulating on the internet. It is a ringing endorsement of Donald J Trump for president by six Democratic mayors of small towns in northern Minnesota.
The letter is curious not just because these folks would be expected support a Democratic candidate. But for its language and content.
White House phraseology
Several colorful expressions in the letter, dated 28 August 2020, are exactly those used repeatedly in tweets and statements from the White House. These include:
“bad trade deals ...”
“hard-working Minnesotans ... have been abandoned by radical Democrats ...”
“four years ago, something wonderful happened. Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States ...”
“the Iron Range is roaring back to life ...”
White House falsehoods
The letter also includes six of the most frequently repeated false assertions by the president and his staff. These are:
1. “the Democratic Party has moved so far to the left it can no longer claim to be advocates of the working class.”
No, it hasn’t. Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are moderates and, if anything, to the right of the party historically.
2. “Donald J. Trump stood up to China.”
Tragically, Trump tried, but failed spectacularly. US exports to China are now at a nine-year low. The trade deficit in July 2020 was a disastrous $63.6 billion, compared with $40.5 billion in July 2016.
China is now doing whatever it wants in exports, imports, diplomacy and military expansion and is ignoring the USA completely.
3. “Donald Trump fought for the working class.”
Not at all. The greatest beneficiaries of Trump’s policies have been the rich. By far.
4. “By putting tariffs on our products and supporting bad trade deals, politicians like Joe Biden did nothing to help the working class.”
Tariffs are indeed destructive. They were imposed unilaterally by Trump’s administration in January, May, July and August 2018.
5. “We lost thousands of jobs [under Obama and Biden], and generations of young people have left the Iron Range in order to provide for their families with good paying jobs elsewhere.”
Completely untrue. At the 2012 election, 12,005,000 Americans were looking for work. By the 2016 election, this had fallen to 7,488,000. The number now has blown out to 13,550,000.
6. “President Trump delivered the best economy in our nation’s history.”
Absolutely false. Of the 26 key economic indicators, only four were tracking about average in 2019. Fourteen were tracking well below average. The other eight were performing disastrously. Before the pandemic arrived, the US economy was actually close to the worst it had ever been.
The six mayors
Signatories of the letter are Mayor Larry Cuffe of Virginia, Mayor John Champa of Chisholm, Mayor Chris Swanson of Two Harbors, Mayor Andrea Zupancich of Babbitt, Mayor Robert Vlaisavljevich of Eveleth and Mayor Chuck Novak of Ely.
Questions arising
What the Ely is going on here? Has the White House done some kind of funding deal? Can readers from Minnesota’s Iron Range offer us a clue, please?
And why have so many Democrats, not just in Minnesota, swallowed Trump’s blatant lie that the US economy pre-Covid was performing well?
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“Alan Austin is a great Australian journalist and, I think, a pirate. I steal Alan Austin’s findings all the time.”
~ Jordan Shanks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtV-2X4BjQI