DNC Speaker Blames Trump For Father’s COVID Death: “His Only Preexisting Condition Was Trusting Trump”

Arizona Central reports:

Kristin Urquiza, whose childhood is rooted in Maryvale and whose father died in June after a weeks-long battle against complications caused by COVID-19, blamed President Donald Trump and a failure of leadership for his death during her national, prime-time remarks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention on Monday.

Urquiza, 39, who lives in San Francisco and studied public policy, also has blamed Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey for the loss of her father. In a brief but powerful straight-to-camera appearance, with family photos interspersed throughout, Urquiza spoke for fewer than three minutes, offering a searing rebuke of the Trump administration.

Urquiza says that when Arizona lifted its stay-at-home order in May, her father went to a karaoke bar where he presumably contracted COVID.

From her speech:

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 roles before it was safe. 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 pre existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life.

The coronavirus has made clear that there are two Americas: the America that Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in.

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.

At this writing Urquiza is trending on Twitter, in part due to attacks on her by Trump supporters.