Sunday on MSNBC’s “Velshi,” Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) called the country under President Donald Trump “the scariest America” she had seen in her lifetime.
Host Ali Velshi said, “Congresswoman, here in Pennsylvania, it’s a diverse state. There’s a lot of minorities, a lot of African-Americans here, but it’s not particularly integrated. People live in different communities. The president in the last few weeks has tweeted out a number of times about suburbs. He tweeted something directly at something he calls suburban housewives. And the implication is that they — he called them who knows who, who knows, will come into your neighborhoods, crime will increase, your property values will go down. I’d call that a dog whistle, but it’s not a dog whistle because everybody can hear it. The people I spoke to here in Pennsylvania reflected some of that fear that the police are not being protected, that crime will increase. Joe Biden’s America is going to be scary, as Donald Trump’s ads say. What do you make of that?”
Demings said, “Well, what I would make of that is Donald Trump’s America is the scariest America I’ve seen in my lifetime. And, you know, I would give the president this advice. Number one, get to know the people that you represent because I’m not sure when he’s appealing to the suburbs, I know what he’s trying to do but America is changing and where people live are changing and communities and even the inner city areas, downtown areas, for example, are becoming more diverse than ever before. Number one, get to know the people in America and where they live.”
She added, “The president is doing everything he can to instill fear, to further divide us as a nation. But then remember, we’re talking about a president who is already demonstrated that he will cheat to win, that he will sow disinformation and does not mind inviting foreign powers to interfere in our election. So he’s using fear while Joe Biden is talking about a plan for the future. We’re in a public health pandemic. He has a plan for that. We have tens of millions of people who are unemployed. He has a plan for that. Division, addressing systemic racism, Joe Biden has talked about how he will do that and how it will be one of his top priorities. I would say to the voters, stay focused. We have some major issues that we’re dealing with, and we need to elect no one who is serious about dealing with those issues and get rid of the person in the White House who does not have a clue. ”
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