Last night, Kristin Urquiza blasted Donald Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic that killed her father: “His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with is life.” Fox News did not want its viewers to hear her powerful message.
Fox News dipped in and out of the convention, though we can be sure they’ll air every second of the Republican convention next week.
NewsHound Brian reported that Fox showcased comments from Chris Wallace and Brit Hume before picking up a small piece of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s speech last night. Karl Rove and Katie Pavlich took precedence over the next speaker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Media Matters’ Matthew Gertz tweeted some screen grabs:
Shameful. pic.twitter.com/bd9GxbHKpX
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 18, 2020
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 18, 2020
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 18, 2020
They cut in for George Floyd's family. pic.twitter.com/d1tOVNAEYT
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 18, 2020
I think we can guess why Fox tuned in for George Floyd’s family: for their moderate pundits to pretend they care about racial justice and to allow their more anti-Democratic pundits to bash Democrats for glorifying him.
In case you missed it, here are Urquiza’s full remarks, as prepared for delivery, via the DNC:
Hi, I’m Kristin Urquiza. I’m one of the many who has lost a loved one to COVID. My dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, should be here today, but he isn’t. He had faith in Donald Trump. He voted for him, listened to him, believed him and his mouthpieces when they said that coronavirus was under control and going to disappear; that it was okay to end social distancing rules before it was safe; and that if you had no underlying health conditions, you’d probably be fine.
So, in late May, after the stay-at-home order was lifted in Arizona, my dad went to a karaoke barwith his friends. A few weeks later, he was put on a ventilator. And after five agonizing days, he died alone, in the ICU, with a nurse holding his hand.
My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.
I am not alone. Once I told my story, a lot of people reached out to me to share theirs. They asked me to help them keep their communities safe, especially communities of color which have been disproportionately affected. They asked me, a normal person, to help because Donald Trump won’t.
The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: the America that Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in.
Enough is enough. Donald Trump may not have caused the coronavirus, but his dishonesty and his irresponsible actions made it so much worse.
We need a leader who has a national, coordinated, data-driven response to stop this pandemic from claiming more lives and to safely reopen the country. We need a leader who will step in on Day One and do his job, to care. One of the last things that my father said to me was that he felt betrayed by the likes of Donald Trump. And so, when I cast my vote for Joe Biden, I will do it for my dad.
You can watch Urquiza’s amazing speech below, from the August 17, 2020 Democratic National Convention, via the Biden campaign.
