Subject: For Research: IN Press Call Excerpts
From: "Price, Jenna" <[email-masked]>
To: RR2 <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:26:29 -0700

For Immediate Release
April 20, 2016

Contact: DNC Press - 202-863-8148

Excerpts from the DNC Press Call To Hold Donald Trump Accountable As He Campaigns In Indiana

Today, Representative Andre Carson and Indiana Democratic Party Chair John Zody hosted a press call to hold Donald Trump accountable as he campaigned in Indiana. Donald Trump has proven that he is dangerous, dishonest, and afraid to face the tough questions. With so much at stake in the general election for the state of Indiana, Hoosiers cannot afford to be dragged backwards by the out-of-touch agenda of the Republican Party. From divisive rhetoric to enticing violence and prejudice, Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans stand to negatively affect the state of Indiana and it's residents. These are the many reasons why Hooisers need to elect Democrats for President, Governor, and down the ballot.

Below find excerpts from the call as prepared for delivery:

Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody:
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But let's be clear - Donald Trump did not hijack the Republican Party. He is the natural result of years of extreme ideology and dangerous, divisive rhetoric coming from the Republican Party. We've already suffered from the out-of-touch agenda of our own version of Trump in the state - Governor Mike Pence. Like Trump, Governor Pence wants to redefine birthright citizenship rules in the U.S. Constitution.

Just yesterday, Trump's immigration policy expert testified in favor of anti-immigrant legislation in Indiana and a measure that could bring another wave of RFRA-like economic panic to the state. While Trump has said women should be "punished" for having abortions, Mike Pence signed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. Under this law, women no longer have the privacy and confidentiality of consulting with their doctors about their own well-being. And finally, Donald Trump supports policies similar to the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act - essentially a license to discriminate, which Mike Pence has championed.

Not only did this dash his chances to run for president, but his destructive ideology threw the state into a $250 million economic panic while putting our coveted "Hoosier Hospitality" reputation in jeopardy. So Mike Pence is Indiana's Donald Trump. And I can tell you, we don't need another one.

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After the past four disastrous years of his leadership, Hoosiers are ready to fire Mike Pence this fall. But I remain worried about the hateful rhetoric that Trump and Cruz will spread across Indiana in the meantime. After November, Indiana will be recovering from one out-of-touch ideologue, we definitely can't afford another one in the White House.

Representative Andre Carson:

As most know -- three years ago, after their 2012 election loss, the Republican Party put out an autopsy report that was supposed to help them connect with a more diverse electorate. Instead of heeding the warnings, the party paved the way for a divisive demagogue at the top of the ticket: Donald Trump.
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But even more shocking is that the Republican Party has done nothing in the three years since it released its autopsy to build relationships with people of color or to make us feel welcome. In fact, it's barely done anything in the last fifty years to bridge the gap. Division has been a deliberate part the strategy employed by Republicans for years.

So we shouldn't be surprised that Donald Trump's vicious campaign tactics put him at the top of the Republican primary field. By inciting violence at his rallies, encouraging the crowd to beat up a Black Lives Matter protester, and waffling on whether or not to denounce the Klu Klux Klan, Trump knows exactly what he's doing, and it's shameful. I don't want to see another article suggesting that Trump is engaging in a hostile takeover of his party. He's not. He is a product of years and years of racial appeals by generations of Republicans. Trump is the GOP without the wrapping paper. The truth is, the other Republican candidates running for president are not much different.

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Trump's call for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S." promotes prejudice of and discrimination against Muslims. Our nation is not at war with Islam, or any other religion. Our nation is at war with those who seek to harm us. I am a proud Hoosier. And I am a proud Muslim American who has served my country as a member of the law enforcement community, the intelligence committee, and now as the Representative from Indiana's 7th Congressional District. There are 8 million Muslim American citizens - hardworking families and patriots who contribute and serve our nation in many ways - from education, to law enforcement, to medicine, including some right here in Indiana.

Our country is better than the division and hatred we're being sold by Republicans. If the GOP is truly interested in broadening its appeal, then it needs to abandon divisive leaders like Donald Trump and commit to changing its priorities, policies, and practices in order to win over minority voters. People of color hear them too.

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