Trump’s campaign said in an email statement that Biden’s campaign hasn’t prioritized Ohio. More coverage from the Dayton Daily News of Trump’s visit this afternoon will detail what he says during his visit to the area.
“Whether it is cutting taxes and red tape, repatriating American manufacturing, or renegotiating Joe Biden’s disastrous NAFTA deal, President Trump has accomplished more for Ohio’s workers and businesses than Joe Biden managed in nearly 50 years of public service,” Ohio campaign spokesman Dan Lusheck said in a statement.
Over the past three decades, Ohio has cultivated a soybean market with China, Japan and other countries that had accounted for more than 40% of the state’s crop, said Joe Logan, Ohio Farmers Union President, during a virtual news conference by the Ohio Democratic Party.
“Unfortunately, the sledgehammer that he’s taken to our network of international affiliations, and international trading partners, has not been a recipe that’s been successful for international trade,” Logan said.
In July, the U.S. trade deficit jumped to $63.6 billion its highest point since July 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Trump ran in 2016 pledging to reduce the trade deficit.
U.S. farmers are “sitting on mountains of soybeans that they cannot move to China” that are rotting in the weather, Logan said.
“What (Trump) has done was to break apart the network of international markets for agricultural commodities and virtually decimate our market for soybeans,” he said. “The billions of tons of soybeans that we use to send to China … are still going to China, but they’re coming from Brazil.”
Trump is scheduled to meet supporters at 4:30 p.m. today at Wright Bros Aero at the Dayton International Airport and take Air Force One next to Toledo.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, who represents Toledo-area Ohioans, said Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic forced people out of work and off health insurance.
“More and more people are falling off their health care benefits,” Kaptur said. “And we’ve had so much difficulty because of the ham-handed manner in which he’s handled the pandemic crisis.”
Kaptur said the Trump administration made a “mishmash” of the automotive industry.
“Our trade deficit is bigger than ever,” she said. “And his policies have actually accelerated offshoring and the loss of American manufacturing jobs because of what he’s done with his tariff policies.”
Trump is in Ohio today because “he’s desperate,” said former Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin, who is also the Ohio Democratic Party’s vice chairwoman.
McLin said Trump is “trying to bully his way through this election” while putting Ohioans at risk of COVID-19 by holding in-person rallies.
“Even though we’re in the middle of a global pandemic, Donald Trump demands to put on a show. He’s P.T. Barnum,” McLin said. “Unfortunately, this show could have deadly consequences.”
Election 2020
Count on the Dayton Daily News for everything you need to know this election season. We are the only news source covering all local candidates and issues on your ballot, and digging into a safe and accurate vote.
About the Author