Florida Rep. Val Demings (D), a frontrunner to become Biden’s Vice-Presidential candidate, is slamming the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus ahead of Vice President Mike Pence’s (R) stop in the sunshine state.
During a video conference that was hosted by the Florida Democratic Party, Demings argued that this is just “another smoke-and-mirrors moment,” explaining that “the president and vice president want you to take your eyes off the real condition on the ground.” She added that the Trump administration wants Americans to “pay no attention to the people who have died,” and to “pay no attention to the people who are sick.”
During an interview with Orlando’s WFTV9, Vice President Biden showed his interest in picking Demings as his running mate, saying that Demings “is one of a group of close to a dozen really qualified and talented women who are on a list.”
However, during the conference call with reporters, they were not allowed to ask Demings questions, and the conference was abruptly ended when she was asked about Biden’s endorsement and possible chance of joining him on the campaign trail.
She has not responded to the claims that she will be his Vice-Presidential pick, and she has focused solely on getting Florida back up and running in a safe and effective way while also voicing her disagreement with the Trump administration.
“There’s a difference between taking a matter seriously and the appearance of doing so,” she argued.
Whether or not Demings will become Biden’s pick is not known at the moment seeing that there are other candidates in the conversation as well.
But, Democrats are signaling that Demings could help Vice President Biden win the state of Florida, which President Donald Trump won in 2016.
Scott Arceneaux, a Democratic strategist and former executive director of the state party, commented that “Congresswoman Demings would be a huge benefit to the Biden campaign in Florida” because “she’s a Jacksonville native, very popular in the Orlando market and amazingly dynamic on the stump.”
