Subject: RE: FOR RESEARCH: FL Press Call Excerpts
From: "Lykins, Tyler" <[email-masked]>
To: "Price, Jenna" <[email-masked]>, RR2 <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2016 10:26:25 -0700

good

From: Price, Jenna
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2016 12:58 PM
To: RR2
Subject: FOR RESEARCH: FL Press Call Excerpts

For Immediate Release
April 21, 2016

Contact: DNC Press - 202-863-8148

DNC Chair, Florida Dems Hold Call on GOP's Full-scale Florida Freak-out

Today, DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Florida Representative Ted Deutch hosted a press call to discuss the mad scramble happening in Florida this week over the Republican National Committee's convention rules. With Donald Trump's sweeping victory in the New York primary, it's clear he's the only candidate that can win a majority of first-ballot delegates. With the hopes of saving their own flagging campaigns, Ted Cruz and John Kasich frantically flew to Florida to try to convince party insiders to block Trump - the candidate with the most votes and most delegates - from winning the nomination.

The contrast between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party couldn't be more clear. Following the New York primary, exit polling showed 68 percent of Democratic voters felt their primary had energized the party, while 57 percent of Republican voters said their primary had divided the party. With Republicans all over the map pledging to skip this summer's Republican Convention, it's clear the GOP is in a full-scale freak-out.

Below find excerpts from the call as prepared for delivery:

DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz:
...
As you know, on Tuesday evening, Donald Trump scored a landslide victory in New York, and is now the only candidate who can win the nomination on the first ballot. Right now, the RNC is having its spring meeting in South Florida, trying to figure out how to prevent that from happening. John Kasich and Ted Cruz, who have been essentially eliminated from contention on the first ballot, rushed down to South Florida to save their own campaigns but only by stopping Trump. It's been somewhat amusing to watch Republicans try to distance themselves from their presumptive nominee. But the Republican Party just doesn't get it. Donald Trump is the face of the GOP. His offensive, divisive, misogynistic campaign is deeply ingrained within the Party, it's their M.O.

Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich are both playing the same dangerous game as Trump. They've made it clear they're not any more interested in substance than him, just broken government that limits rights, as opposed to protecting them. Both of them rushed to Florida last night to meet with Republican leaders at the RNC meeting. Cruz is hoping against hope for a brokered convention given that he couldn't win the nomination outright, and Kasich's decision to stay in the race despite no clear path to the nomination is a fool's errand. He claims that he can beat the Democratic nominee in a general election, yet he hasn't been able to win anything but his own state in his own party.

I am confident that Democrats will have the strongest possible candidate come November. We're also poised to reclaim the Senate and pick up more seats in the House. It's because we offer the Americans a clear choice - we are offering a forward looking vision to keep our nation moving forward and build on the progress we've made under Democratic leadership. Under President Obama's leadership we have witnessed 73 straight months of private sector job growth that created 14.4 million new jobs.
...

As the DNC Chair, I am proud of the success the Democratic candidates vying for nomination. We have much to be proud of. But it's clear that Republicans are gearing up for a messy, prolonged fight for their presidential nomination. I wish them luck, but this is a mess of their own making.

Representative Ted Deutch:

You know - one of the biggest misconceptions about this campaign is that Donald Trump is an outsider who has taken over the Republican party. He is no such thing - he is the logical extension of their divisive, do-nothing politics that we've been seeing on Capitol Hill for years. Instead of helping Democrats rescue the economy and the auto industry, Republicans tried to block it. Instead working with Democrats to craft a law that has given 20 million Americans health insurance, Republicans tried to block it, and have voted to repeal it over 60 times. Instead of doing their jobs and passing a budget, Speaker Ryan has abdicated his responsibility. And over in the Senate, Republicans are refusing to do their jobs, and are holding up a Supreme Court nomination for supposed political gain.

Neither Debbie nor I came to Congress to do nothing. We came to get things done for the people we represent. The Democrats want to work together. We want to take on the challenges that our nation faces but we need a willing partner to do it.
...

It's no surprise that so many of my Republican colleagues are choosing to sit out the Republican Convention in Cleveland because they want to distance themselves from Trump too. Former GOP nominee John McCain, former Republican frontrunner Jeb Bush, and countless others have said they will skip the convention. Even Ohio's Republican Senator Rob Portman said he may not go to Cleveland for the convention that is happening in his own state.

By contrast, Democrats are fired up about our candidates, and we're motivated to build on the progress of the past seven years, and keep divisive demagogues like Donald Trump out of the White House. Holding elected office - from the city council to the presidency of the United States - is a public service. Debbie and I take our positions very seriously. We were elected to serve not only our constituents, but also our nation. I am calling on Republicans to get serious about leading. I am calling on them to serve our nation with honor and distinction, not the slugfest we've witnessed thus far.

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