Orlando, FL- In the lead up to President-elect Donald Trump’s Thank You Tour rally in Orlando this evening, the Orange County Democratic Party would like to remind the President-elect that his message of division, xenophobia, and intolerance is not welcome here. Hillary Clinton won Orange County by almost 135,000 votes, a portion of her 2.8 million popular vote defeat of Trump nationwide. At the site selected to host the event, the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orange County’s Precinct 603, he could not even garner 100 votes – over 93% of its voters rejected Donald Trump! The selection of Orlando and Orange County are proof that his transition team is clueless about our community.
Locally, the event is being spun as an opportunity to begin healing the wounds of a divisive election. Unfortunately, that message is lost on the President-elect: just a quick glance through his Twitter feed and you see a continuation of divisive, vicious attacks including a personal attack on Indiana union president Chuck Jones. Our unions are what makes America great – from the 40 hour work week to raising wages for all Americans. They fight to protect our jobs here in Florida while Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress want to fleece our workers and ship jobs overseas to foreign companies.
We have seen enough of what a Trump presidency will look like: appointing a climate change denier to the EPA, as sea levels and temperatures rise at record rates– this directly impacts us here in Florida, appointing a person which supports privatizing our education system to the Department of Education, even appointing a fast food CEO to the Labor department, someone who on record has said he does not believe in providing his workers with a livable wage. Trump has appointed more millionaires and billionaires to his cabinet than any other president in our nation’s history! It is clear that Trump’s policies will harm Central Florida’s workers and families.
We, the Orange County Democrats, reject his presence in our community. We embrace our Muslim brothers and sisters. We celebrate the diversity of our Hispanic community. We support our Black community, and reject racism in all forms. We stand in solidarity with our Unions. We respect women, both in their reproductive rights and in the right to earn an equal wage. Finally, if this community has proven one thing in 2016, it is that we will not tolerate any attack on our LGBT community. We are Orlando United.
Chairman Wes Hodge said, “While the dog and pony show surrounding the President-elect’s campaign visits town, the Orange County Democrats are at work on a strategic plan for 2018. We have three tremendous new Congressional Representatives in Darren Soto, Val Demings, and Stephanie Murphy. Together, we will work our best to protect our community from the impacts of a Trump presidency. The heart of Central Florida is blue, and is home to some of the most progressive ideas and legislators in the state.” We are laying the groundwork to ensure their reelections. In them, our community has a trio of strong leaders, and our party is ready to stand behind them in solidarity. We urge all of those who want to stand up to for Orange County to join us at our monthly meetings to plan, organize, and to stay involved in the political process.
