$4000 for Vacations, $18 Billion for the Wall:
These Are McSally’s Priorities As COVID-19 Ravages Arizona
“Sen. McSally has hooked her flagging campaign to Trump’s flagrantly racist campaign messages.”
Arizona, like Texas and a handful of states, is reeling from COVID-19 with record-setting infections. As state and local governments scramble to contain the virus and prepare for a surge in hospitalizations, Arizona families live in increasing fear that the worst of the global pandemic is still to come for the Grand Canyon State.
In Washington, DC, as KTAR reports, Senator Martha McSally’s response is to introduce the American TRIPS Act, which could give families up to $4000 to break quarantine and travel the country on vacation. Then yesterday, Sen. McSally basked in the glow of President Trump’s Arizona campaign swing and stood by as he autographed his (at least) $18 billion federally funded campaign prop, the border wall. The following is a statement from Mario Carillo, Campaigns Manager for America’s Voice, a pro-immigrant advocacy group with offices in Washington and Austin.
Arizona is setting records for COVID-19 infections and Senator Martha McSally’s answer is a $4,000 vacation voucher and an $18 billion wall. And now that masks will now be mandatory in Pima, Maricopa and elsewhere, Senator Martha McSally is focused elsewhere. She cheered on as Trump autographed his signature, and useless, border wall with Mexico, which has diverted at least $18 billion from military families, FEMA disaster relief and money that could have been spent to address COVID-19 with more testing and resources. To be clear, essential workers in Native American, Black and Latino families across the state will feel the brunt of Arizona’s spiking infections and couldn’t take advantage of Sen. McSally’s vacation incentives even if they wanted to. They are too busy serving in hospitals, grocery stores, food pantries and other critical services that are protecting Arizona families.
Then to add insult to injury, Sen. McSally looked positively giddy as she joined President Trump in Phoenix as he did everything he could to downplay the virus’ severity, deflect blame and spur racial divisions in the state and in the country. Sen. McSally has hooked her flagging campaign to Trump’s flagrantly racist campaign messages, where supporters enthusiastically buy into Trump’s message that all is well on the COVID-19 front and it’s all China’s fault…or Mexico’s…or immigrants’…or anyone other than Trump himself and the Republicans who give him cover.
Americans are reeling and awakening. A once-in-a-lifetime pandemic has taken the lives of more than 120,000 Americans; the economy has collapsed; and millions are in the streets demanding fundamental changes to our country’s justice system and a reckoning with four centuries of racial injustice. The nation cries out for strong leadership, unity across racial difference and dramatic progress on multiple fronts.
But, like Trump, McSally believes dividing American communities and ignoring the COVID-19 crisis improves her chances of winning reelection. In fact, with the Senator’s priorities on full display, she has forced Americans to choose sides. Unfortunately for Arizona, Sen. McSally has chosen the side of division, racism, xenophobia and ignoring reality, which is the wrong side of history.
- Read the America’s Voice take on how Trump’s border wall obsession embodies Trump’s presidency: narcissistic, ineffective, corrupt, offensive and unpopular
- Read America’s Voice new report, For Trump and the GOP, Xenophobia as a Political Strategy Has Backfired on the reliance on the dehumanization of immigrants failed in contested races across the country from 2017-19
