WISCONSIN — The scaled-back Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee is set to begin one month from today.
Charles Benson talked with Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes - who just endorsed Joe Biden.
Benson: What is your expectation and your hope for this now very much scaled backed event?
Lt. Gov.Barnes: My hope is that coronavirus goes away completely in the next month, but we know that that's not the reality.
It's not the convention Democrats had hoped for to showcase Milwaukee and the party's presidential nominee.
However, even though it's going to be a mostly virtually convention, Lieutenant Governor Barnes knows one important task has not changed.
"We can lay out our vision, layout our plan for leadership, and layout our plan for the future, for the United States of America, understanding that, electing Joe Biden is step one," said Barnes.
Democrats know the lackluster voter turn out contributed to losing Wisconsin in 2016, but they turned the tide in 2018.
President Trump has courted African American voters by pointing to pre-pandemic - unemployment numbers at historic lows.
But Lt. Governor Barnes says he's still skeptical of the president's record.
"You still look at the historic number of people who are underemployed and minimum wage still has not caught up and over 10 years, people are still struggling," said Barnes, so folks understand that's a hoax in my community."
The RNC responded saying: "The only hoax in this election cycle is Joe Biden presuming to care about the Black community's wellbeing after his policies lead to mass incarceration, thousands of manufacturing jobs leaving urban communities for China and his obstruction to school choice, " said RNC Senior Communications Advisor for Black Media Affairs, Paris Dennard.
