Politics ain’t beanbag, as the old saying goes.
But what occurred on Day One of the Democratic National Convention was beyond detestable.
No, it wasn’t when former first lady Michelle Obama claimed that “right now, kids in this country … watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages” — presumably by President Trump and his minions.
No, it wasn’t when convention speaker Ashley Nicole McCray advocated for the “destruction of capitalism,” saying America “must move away from these systems and these frameworks.”
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And it wasn’t when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who utterly failed to stem the spread of COVID-19 in his state, said the pandemic sweeping across America is the president’s fault.
No, the truly reprehensible moment came from a speaker at Monday night’s convention who blamed Trump for her father catching COVID-19 after he partied with friends at a karaoke bar in Arizona.
“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,” said Kristin Urquiza, who lives in San Francisco. “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump. And for that, he paid with his life.”
Urquiza, who spoke for three minutes during the prime-time coverage of the party’s first night of the convention, said her father’s death is Trump’s fault.
“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,” she said in her speech. “Enough is enough. Donald Trump may not have caused the coronavirus, but his dishonesty and irresponsible actions made it so much worse.”
Urquiza said that her father at first heeded the lockdown edicts in Arizona, but when state officials ended the orders, he thought it was all clear to return to normal life because, she said, he had “faith” in the president.
“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 OK to end social distancing rules before it was safe, and that if you had no underlying health conditions you’d probably be fine,” she said.
In late May, after Arizona’s stay-at-home order ended, her father went to a karaoke bar with his friends, Urquiza said. He tested positive for COVID-19 on June 11 and his condition declined to the point where he was eventually placed on a ventilator. He died June 30 at age 65.
“He died alone, in the ICU, with a nurse holding his hand,” she said. “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.”
Urquiza blaming Trump for her father’s death didn’t play well on social media.
“They now have someone straight-up personally blaming Trump for their father catching coronavirus and dying. Wow,” wrote one person on Twitter.
“Grown man who decided to go out to a karaoke bar when he could check on case numbers in the city, county, and area to make an informed decision to go out or not. Older person which falls under high risk category. Grown man and daughter is blaming Trump for dad’s decision,” wrote another.
After her father’s death, Urquiza wrote an obituary in the Arizona Republic in which she blamed his death on the “the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership, refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis, and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize risk.”
Democrats have now dropped to a new low — which didn’t seem possible. They’ve decided to blame the president of the United States for every single death of an American due to COVID-19.
But let’s do some numbers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that from Feb. 1 through Aug. 8, 149,192 Americans have died from the virus. Nearly a third (31.98%) were 85 years old or older. In fact, nearly 8 in 10 (79.46%) of those who died were 65 years old or older.
Just 8% of the fatalities occurred for people less than 1 year old up to 54 years old.
So COVID-19 kills older people — especially those with comorbidities.
To blame the president for the death of a man in Arizona who passed away after a night of karaoke is just deplorable. But the Democrats plan to do just that until Election Day.
*Joseph Curl ran the Drudge Report from 2010 to 2014 and covered the White House for a dozen years. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter at @JosephCurl. A version of this article ran previously in The Washington Times.
