Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley called on citizens to intensify grassroots organizations against President Trump and his political allies in states across the country in the coming weeks.
“This is as much about public outcry, organizing, and mobilizing and applying pressure,” Pressley said Saturday on MSNBC. “… so that this GOP-led Senate and these governors that continue to carry water for this administration, putting American people in harm’s way, turning a deaf ear to the needs of our families and our communities — hold them accountable.”
Pressley, a member of the Democratic Party’s four-person, so-called squad, has accused Trump and members of his administration of both downplaying the dangers posed to the American people by the pandemic and politicizing the resulting crisis in an election year.
“As far as I’m concerned, what’s happening with this administration, it’s akin to war crimes — criminal negligence, science denials, a sluggish response,” Pressley said in April. “So we find ourselves in the position of playing catch up in the midst of a pandemic.”
Democrats have been critical of Republican governors who either have resisted lockdown measures and face covering mandates or have reopened their economies at a speed that some public health officials have said is too hasty.
In South Dakota, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem said she would reject federal funding for coronavirus economic relief after resisting lockdown measures earlier this year.
“My administration is very grateful for the additional flexibility that this effort would have provided, but South Dakota is in the fortunate position of not needing to accept it,” Noem said this weekend.
Democrats have also slammed Trump over his comments attacking the U.S. Postal Service, which he says cannot handle large amounts of mail-in ballots expected this fall.
“The president is afraid of the American people. He’s been afraid for a while, he knows on the legit it’d be hard for him to win, so he wants to put up obstacles of participation,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Earlier this month, Trump took executive action to continue unemployment benefits as Congress deadlocked on any deal.
Pressley said people who are displeased with how the country has handled the pandemic can do more than just voting in November.
“Make the phone calls, send the emails, show up,” she said. “You know, there needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there’s unrest in our lives.”
