Blog from June, 2024

June Presidential Debate Toolkit 

On June 27, the first presidential debate of 2024 will take place. As we gear up for this crucial event, we must remember that our democracy and freedoms hang in the balance this November, and it will take the collective power of grassroots supporters like you to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda. This debate will showcase the stark contrast between President Biden and Donald Trump’s vision for America and remind voters that President Biden is fighting to keep our country moving forward and make life better for every American. This supporter guide will equip you with the necessary tools to actively engage and take action during the debate, ensuring that the president’s message is heard loud and clear. Let's work together to make a difference!

Table of Contents

• Why this Debate Matters

• Get Involved

• Official Social Media Accounts to Amplify

• Additional Resources  

Why this Debate Matters

This debate is not just a political event, it’s a pivotal moment in our fight to protect our freedoms and democracy. While the opposition floods the airwaves with misinformation, President Biden and Vice President Harris are counting on this team to amplify their message of positivity and progress, reminding voters that this election is more than Democrat vs Republican; it’s about protecting our democracy versus someone who says they are going to be a dictator on “day one and a forward-looking vision for the future versus revenge and retribution. Every voice counts at this moment, and your engagement can help shape the future of our country. Let's ensure that this debate propels us towards a victory for democracy and freedom.  

Get Involved

Download your PDF version here! 

A Message from DNC Black Caucus Chair Virgie M. Rollins

Friends,
 

Today we celebrate Juneteenth and recognize the significance of this day in our nation’s history. Juneteenth marks the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and is a reminder of the struggles endured to obtain freedom and equality. This day invites us to reflect on our past and celebrate the progress we’ve made while reaffirming our commitment to justice. 
 

In Solidarity,
 

Virgie M. Rollins

Chair, DNC Black Caucus

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and DNC Black Caucus Chair Virgie M. Rollins released the following statement to commemorate the 159th anniversary of Juneteenth:
 

“Today, we celebrate the 159th anniversary of America’s second Independence Day, Juneteenth. On June 19, 1865 — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation — Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to formally inform enslaved people of their long-awaited freedom. Juneteenth marks an important historical milestone in Black Americans’ struggle for freedom and honors the power of our ancestors, who fought for a fairer, more just world.

“As we celebrate Juneteenth and reflect on the resilience of Black Americans, we must recognize that the struggle for Black liberation is not confined to any particular moment but rather an ongoing, long-term movement for civil rights. We must be the civil rights leaders of our generation and continue the journey toward freedom and equality that started long before us.

“There is only one ticket in this race who will walk alongside us: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The Biden-Harris administration’s first term has been filled with promises made and promises kept, and they have proven their commitment to achieving justice and equality for Black Americans. President Biden has appointed more Black judges to the federal bench than any previous president in a single term, including the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Under his leadership, Black child poverty was cut in half during his first year in office, and the federal government invested an unprecedented $16 billion in support for HBCUs.

“As for Donald Trump, he referred to white supremacists as ‘my people’ and attacks DEI efforts across the country. His policies aren’t for the Black community, and contrary to what he has said, he isn’t looking out for us. Meanwhile, with four more years in office, President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue to deliver life-changing policies for Black Americans. With Democrats nationwide by their side, they will continue to work towards the more perfect union that the Black community was promised on Juneteenth. That’s why, on Election Day, we must vote once again to make our country a land of opportunity for all, not just for a particular few.”

Link to post here

To Interested Parties
FROM: Rosemary Boeglin, DNC Communications Director 
DATE: Monday, June 24, 2024
RE: On Anniversary of Dobbs, Democrats are Mobilizing to Stop Trump’s National Abortion Ban

It’s been nearly two years since Donald Trump’s hand-picked Supreme Court justices cast the deciding votes to overturn Roe v. Wade, unleashing an all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedoms. With Trump’s backing, MAGA Republicans in the states have escalated anti-choice attacks ever since, with devastating consequences to Americans’ lives, health and futures – from abortion bans without exceptions for rape and incest and bounty hunter laws to attempts to restrict access to contraception and IVF.

Let’s be clear: Donald Trump owns every single abortion ban and policy that’s ripped away essential reproductive health care from women across the country. 

Because of Trump, more than 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in America now live under an abortion ban. Because of Trump, we’ve seen story after story of women being turned away from emergency rooms and denied reproductive care critical to their health and lives. 

After repeatedly bragging about overturning Roe, Trump said “it's a beautiful thing to watch” states enact extreme abortion restrictions. Trump thinks it’s "beautiful" that a 13-year-old rape victim was forced to carry a pregnancy under Mississippi’s ban; that a young woman in Texas almost died because doctors were afraid to treat her; and that a Florida woman was turned away from the ER and lost roughly half her blood in a single day after experiencing a miscarriage.

These bans are a preview of the national abortion ban that’s coming if Trump is elected: Trump promised to be “leading the charge” in banning abortion nationwide, said there should be “punishment” for women who have an abortion, and his allies have a comprehensive strategy to restrict reproductive health care access in all 50 states with or without the help of Congress or the courts. 

Democrats are working around the clock to ensure that all women – living across diverse communities and suburban and rural divides – know exactly what’s at stake if Trump gets his national abortion ban. This memo outlines the dire consequences since the fall of Roe, how cruel state bans offer a preview of what’s to come if Donald Trump wins this election, and how Democrats are making clear to voters that the MAGA assaults on our reproductive freedoms are on the ballot this November.

The Current Crisis

In the last two years, Donald Trump’s assaults on reproductive freedoms have caused pain and suffering for women across the country and left health providers reeling. Attacks on reproductive freedoms in states with extreme MAGA majorities have led to an influx of out-of-state patients to states with abortion protections still on the books — while health providers in red states have considered fleeing to continue their practice without fear of jail time.

Because of Trump:

• Women must travel up to 11.5 hours round trip for the reproductive care that they deserve.

• In Florida: A woman had to carry her pregnancy to term knowing that there was no chance of survival. 

• In Idaho: More than 50 obstetricians have stopped practicing since the state implemented a near total abortion ban. 

• In Mississippi: A teenage rape victim had to travel 500 miles to get an abortion.

• In Ohio: A 10-year old rape victim was forced to leave the state to receive an abortion.

• In Texas: A 25-year-old college senior faced “extreme danger” of dying because, under Texas law, doctors hesitated to treat her until her fallopian tube ruptured;

• Due to the state’s extreme abortion ban, Texan Amanda Zurawski nearly died when her doctors were unable to provide her the abortion care she needed until she developed a severe and life-threatening case of sepsis.

• In Virginia: Extreme abortion bans in Southern states like Florida place strain on Virginia clinics, as Floridians and other out-of-state patients flee to the only state in the South where they can get the care they need.

• In Washington: Despite reproductive protections in the state, health care clinics struggle to meet the demands of out-of-state patients seeking refuge from their states’ extreme abortion bans.

Now, women in 21 states are living under an extreme abortion ban, some without exceptions for rape or incest. Some states have pushed even further, threatening or restricting access to other forms of reproductive health care such as IVF and contraception.

Moreover, abortion bans – like those currently enacted in red states and like the ban Trump wants to take nationwide – disproportionately impact women of color. 

• Nationwide, restrictive abortion bans are linked to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, particularly for women of color. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy than their white counterparts.

• More than half of Black women in the U.S. reside in states with abortion bans.

• Latinas also disproportionately suffer under the impacts of Trump’s extreme abortion bans – especially Latinas residing in Texas, Florida, and Arizona. 

• Statewide abortion bans impose additional burdensome costs on women, forcing some to pay to travel far distances to receive abortion care. An estimated one-third of Americans do not have savings to cover emergency expenses, with 57% of Hispanic women and 58% of Black women stating they could not afford an expense tantamount to the median cost of an abortion. 

• Despite overwhelming support for abortion care, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women also face obstacles to accessing reproductive health care. Asian Americans are overrepresented in low-wage jobs, and a majority of Asian Americans speak a language other than English at home – creating economic barriers to health care access, as well as challenges in accessing culturally competent care.

• More than a quarter of Asian American and Pacific Islander women between the ages of 15-49 live in the 26 states that have banned or where extreme Republicans are trying to ban abortion.

Ever since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, attacks on a number of women’s reproductive freedoms — not just abortion — have escalated. Trump’s MAGA Republican minions in the states are hellbent on ripping away access to IVF, contraception, medication abortion, and more. 

• An Alabama’s Supreme Court ruling determined that frozen embryos are children.

• In Texas, similar attacks on IVF have surfaced due to the state’s extreme abortion ban.

• Several Republican state parties, like North Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, and Idaho, support policies in their state party platform that could threaten access to IVF.

• In total, 19 states have some type of fetal personhood law on the books. 

• Additionally, hypocrisy knows no bounds for MAGA Republicans in Congress, who’ve scrambled to express their supposed support for IVF despite refusing to protect access to it. 

  • Amid recent attacks against IVF access in the states, Republican senators blocked a Democrat-led bill that would enshrine IVF protections for women nationwide. 

  • This year, the House Republican Study Committee, which represents nearly 80% of House Republicans, backed the Life at Conception Act, which would enact a national abortion ban and threaten access to IVF nationwide. 

Trump’s MAGA Project 2025

The horrifying stories of the dangerous consequences women have faced under extreme abortion bans are only a preview of what’s to come if Donald Trump is reelected. Trump will push for a law that would ban abortion nationwide.

Don’t believe us? Take Trump’s own words for it.

Here’s some of the most egregious things Trump has said about ripping away reproductive freedoms, and the dangerous plans he has for women’s reproductive health care if he retakes power:

• On multiple occasions, he’s said he wants to sign a national abortion ban — and let’s not forget he backed a national ban when he was in office. 

• Trump continues to brag about his unique role in overturning Roe v. Wade, opening the door for all kinds of anti-choice extremism across the country. 

• In fact, he’s called dangerous abortion bans that have threatened the lives of women — and even girls — “beautiful.” 

• He endorsed allowing states to prosecute and punish women who get an abortion.

• And here’s what Trump’s extremist allies plan through their MAGA Project 2025, a dangerous governing agenda for Trump’s second term: 

  • Threatening access to IVF.

  • Rescinding approval of abortion pills at the FDA.

  • Attacking contraception access.

  • Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase “abortion surveillance” and data collection.

  • Rescinding a Department of Defense policy to “prohibit abortion travel funding.”

  • Undermining a law that is currently protecting pregnant women with life-threatening conditions.

  • Punishing states that require health insurance plans to cover abortion.

  • Banning the use of fetal stem cells in medical research for diseases such as cancer.

  • Stopping federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

With Reproductive Freedom on the Ballot, Democrats are Fighting Back Against Trump and MAGA Extremists' Attempts to Undermine Our Rights

Since Roe was overturned, Democrats have been fighting back and holding Trump and MAGA Republicans accountable for their extremism. Every day through Election Day and beyond, we will make the stark choice clear to voters: President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are the only ones fighting to protect women’s fundamental reproductive freedoms.

• The DNC is investing a baseline of $8.3 million this year across every state party in the country, a 25% increase since 2020 to ensure voters know about Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ assault on reproductive rights. 

  • When it comes to engaging key voters on reproductive rights, Democrats have a winning record: the DNC has made targeted investments to help bolster key races that have protected abortion rights everywhere from Virginia to Ohio to Kentucky. 

    • Thanks to Democrats in the state House and Senate, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s attempt to enact an extreme abortion ban was defeated. The DNC invested $1.5 million to support Democratic candidates in Virginia in 2023. 

    • Ohioans took to the ballot box to protect abortion rights in 2023, voting for a state constitutional amendment to codify abortion access. The DNC has increased financial support to the Ohio Democratic Party by 25% since 2020.

    • Kentuckians voted to reelect Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, who ran on a platform centered around abortion rights in the deeply-red commonwealth. The DNC invested over $3 million to support Governor Andy Beshear’s reelection campaign and Democrats up and down the ballot.

• Not only are we targeting swing states, we are building infrastructure in red states to fight back against these bans — including the Red State Fund, which builds programs in traditionally Republican states. So far in the 2023-24 cycle, the DNC has already invested more than $4.5 million to the Red State Fund alone. 

Most importantly, the DNC is committed to ensuring that every woman in the states that will decide this election understand what a second term of Donald Trump would mean. Donald Trump and Republicans will continue to chip away at rights. President Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot will continue to protect and expand our fundamental freedoms. The only way to restore and expand women’s reproductive freedoms is to reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris, and by electing Democrats up and down the ballot.

As we mark the second anniversary of Dobbs, our work to mobilize voters continues today and lasts through November.

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

DAILY TALKING POINTS

Team Biden-Harris Slams Trump’s Attacks on the Middle Class, Small Businesses 

• Two days before the first general election debate, Team Biden-Harris is underscoring a fundamental question Americans are going to ask themselves at the ballot box in November: Are we going to have an economy that works for the middle class or one that enriches the wealthiest among us while leaving working people behind?

• Joe Biden knows his answer. He is rebuilding the backbone of America – the middle class – so that everyone gets a fair shot. And, he is working every day to make life more affordable for the American people:

  • After Trump left office with the worst jobs record since the Great Depression, Joe Biden brought us back from the brink, with more than 15.6 million jobs and a record number of small businesses created. 

  • Beat Big Pharma to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors and lower prescription drug costs. 

  • Has a plan to make housing costs more affordable by building and preserving 2 million homes, lower child care costs, and cut taxes for hardworking families.

  • Cracking down on corporate price gouging that pads the profits of big corporations at your expense. 

• In stark contrast, Donald Trump has no plan to help the middle class. Instead, his agenda would rig the economy for himself and his billionaire donors: 

  • Proposing another billionaire tax break of $3.5 million apiece, every year, and more handouts to big corporations, exploding the national debt.

  • Jacking up the prices of everyday goods, like groceries and medicines, through a plan that increases taxes on working families by up to $8,300.

  • Cutting Social Security and Medicare and terminating the ACA, sending health care costs skyrocketing.

• That’s the choice the American people are going to see on the debate stage on Thursday night.

CONTENT TO AMPLIFY

Please see below for key content we would appreciate your help in amplifying:

USA Today: Ahead of debate, Biden accuses Trump of ignoring middle class in new ad

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Democrats hammer Trump on 2-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade’s overturn

Cardinal & Pine: Abortion bans are only the beginning if Trump wins, doctors and Democrats warn

NBC News: 'A race to the bottom': DNC attacks potential Trump running mates over abortion rights

MSNBC: 'It's insulting': VP Harris slams Trump for saying his indictments appeal to Black voters

@Morning_Joe: "[A Trump win] would mean the unimaginable. It would mean [women] have no options... It would just be one rule for everybody, and that would be no abortions. And that is a very, very dangerous world for women."

— Activist Hadley Duvall on the risk of a Trump presidency for women

@JoeBiden: Here’s the difference: Donald Trump is only out for himself. I’m fighting for your family. Watch our new ad.

@BidenHQ: Trump ally Jeff Durbin, leader of Republican opposition to Arizona abortion measure, says women deserve to be executed if they have an abortion: “You forfeit your right to live”

@JoeBiden: Donald Trump is the sole person responsible for this nightmare.

Listen to Kaitlyn’s story in our new ad.

CBSNews: Kate Cox, a woman denied an emergency abortion last year in Texas, announced that she is pregnant again during an event with Vice President Harris marking two years since the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision.

"I feel so happy...but it's also very scary," Cox tells @NikolenDC

Want to help amplify the DNC’s message online? Join Reach to start receiving daily content updates and access to graphics and videos. Click HERE to join via desktop or mobile app.

Please note that individuals working for independent expenditures or Democratic primary campaign candidates are ineligible to join the DNC’s Reach

Greetings,

You are invited to a White House Council on Environmental Quality Pride Month Webinar on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT. This webinar will feature leaders in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) community within and outside of the Biden-Harris Administration to discuss their professional backgrounds and how they are working to drive progress on climate action, environmental justice, and equitable access to nature.

Register in advance and submit your question for this webinar here:

https://pitc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_gMgj83Y-RDu4aQO_Ba-IYQ

Speakers:

• Liz Bloom, Policy Advisor and Speechwriter, Domestic Policy Council, The White House

• Jessica Loya, Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

• Elyse Rylander, Founder, OUT There Adventures and the LGBTQ Outdoor Summit

• Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Ironbound Community Corporation

• Saad Amer, Climate Activist and Founder, Justice Environment

This webinar is open to all stakeholders – please share broadly with your networks.

Thank you,

White House Council on Environmental Quality