Six Democratic mayors from Minnesota’s Iron Range endorsed President Trump’s reelection Friday, signing an open letter that praised the president as a champion for working-class people and slammed Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden as “out of touch.”
“Today, we don’t recognize the Democratic Party,” the mayors wrote. “It has been moved so far to the left it can no longer claim to be advocates of the working class. The hard-working Minnesotans that built their lives and supported their families here on the Range have been abandoned by radical Democrats. We didn’t choose to leave the Democratic Party, the party left us.”
“Lifelong politicians like Joe Biden are out of touch with the working class, out of touch with what the country needs, and out of touch with those of us here on the Iron Range and in small towns like ours across our nation,” the mayors wrote.
The mayors included Chris Swanson of Two Harbors, John Champa of Chisholm, Larry Cuffe of Virginia, Chuck Novak of Ely, Robert Vlaisavljevich of Eveleth, and Andrea Zupancich of Babbitt.
The letter coincided with a visit Friday by Vice President Mike Pence to the Clure Public Marine Terminal in Duluth, where Mr. Swanson and Mr. Cuffe joined Mr. Pence onstage outside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection warehouse.
“There’s many people in northern Minnesota who truly are Republicans,” Mr. Swanson said, describing a blurring of what had once been solid Democrat country, the Duluth News Tribune reported. “They truly understand what’s going on.”
“Joe Biden did nothing to help the working class,” Mr. Cuffe said, the newspaper reported.
“I’m seeing people come our way every single day,” Mr. Pence reportedly told the crowd.
The president and vice president also thanked the mayors on Twitter.
Trump Lands Major Endorsements From Democrat Mayors in Minnesota https://t.co/ZmZgqwlimn Thank you so much. I will never let you down!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2020
Thank you, Mayor Larry Cuffe, Mayor John Champa, Mayor Chuck Novak, Mayor Chris Swanson, Mayor Robert Vlaisavljevich and Mayor Andrea Zupancich! https://t.co/ERahtLHeny
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 28, 2020
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