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Month: July 2020

Trump and Biden Campaigns to Speak at Disability SummitStills from Michelle Kwan and Lara Trump videos sent to RespectAbility with their names as captions

Trump and Biden Campaigns to Speak at Disability Summit

Published by Philip Pauli on July 31, 2020

Washington, D.C., July 31 – With 94 days until the Presidential election, surrogates from the Trump and the Biden campaigns will address a nationwide audience of more than 2,000 disability advocates, subject matter experts and community leaders gathered to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Since Monday, July 27, the national disability nonprofit RespectAbility has hosted a series of virtual #ADA30 events focused on some of the most critical issues impacting people with disabilities in our nation today. 

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Take Action Now!RespectAbility Fellow Laka Mitiku Negassa, a Black woman with short black hair, wearing a face mask and working at a computer
RespectAbility Releases 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for Senate and Governor RacesMap of the United States in front of a red and blue gradient background. Text: Disability voter Questionnaire for Senate and Governor Races

RespectAbility Releases 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for Senate and Governor Races

Published by Philip Pauli on July 24, 2020

Washington, D.C., July 24 – RespectAbility, a nonpartisan national nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community, is now sending its nonpartisan voter questionnaire to candidates in competitive Senate and Governors races across the country.

The outreach is being done in conjunction with RespectAbility’s online publication, TheRespectAbilityReport.org, an online publication around the intersection of disability and electoral politics. The answers to the questionnaire will be turned into nonpartisan voter guides in key battleground states across the country. This questionnaire builds on candidate outreach work done earlier this year during the Democratic Presidential Primary as well as past work in 2018 and 2016. 

Continue readingRespectAbility Releases 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for Senate and Governor Races
Biden and Trump campaigns release diversity data – but disability isn’t includedOfficial portraits of President Trump and Vice President Biden. Text: Trump vs. Biden Diversity Data

Biden and Trump campaigns release diversity data – but disability isn’t included

Published by Lily Coltoff on July 12, 2020

Washington, D.C., July 12 – After increased calls to disclose campaign staff diversity data, both the Biden and Trump campaigns released the diversity statistics of their teams, showing that less than half of their full-time and senior staffs are comprised of minorities. Noticeably absent from the data that has been…

Continue readingBiden and Trump campaigns release diversity data – but disability isn’t included
Disabled Veteran Being Vetted for VP NominationTammy Duckworth with a group of other veterans smiling in front of an American Flag

Disabled Veteran Being Vetted for VP Nomination

Published by James Trout on July 11, 2020

Washington, D.C., July 11 – Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) has been receiving much attention in recent weeks in the press as a potential running mate for presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden. Duckworth being on the ticket would be notable for several reasons. If Biden were to choose her as Vice President and win the 2020 Presidential election, Duckworth would be the first woman to serve as Vice President, the first Asian American to be elected as either Vice President or President, and the first person with a visible disability since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be elected either as President or Vice President. Like many of the 57 million Americans with disabilities, Duckworth was not born with a disability but acquired one later in life.

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Blind Michigan Supreme Court Justice unable to receive absentee ballot, turned awayHeadshot of Justice Richard Bernstein smiling in front of an American flag. Text: Justice Richard Bernstein

Blind Michigan Supreme Court Justice unable to receive absentee ballot, turned away

Published by Lily Coltoff on July 9, 2020

BIRMINGHAM, Mich., July 9 – A blind Michigan Supreme Court Justice was turned away from a clerk’s office while trying to retrieve and fill out his absentee ballot last week because the workers did not know how to get him his ballot.

Justice Richard Bernstein, who was elected as the first blind justice to the Michigan Supreme Court in January 2015, told local reporters that “I think what I experienced was the fact they didn’t have any idea what the protocol was,” and that he has nothing bad to say of the workers in the office, only that they simply did not know what to do. 

Continue readingBlind Michigan Supreme Court Justice unable to receive absentee ballot, turned away

Trump Campaign Surrogate’s Message: “Uplifting and Celebrating Americans with Disabilities”

Published by Philip Pauli on July 7, 2020

Washington, D.C., July 7, 2020 – In a video message played at POWER: the Disability Vote, a national, non-partisan Disability & Election Virtual Summit hosted by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the Trump reelection campaign finally broke its long silence on disability issues. The President’s daughter-in-law and campaign adviser Lara Trump spoke in a direct message with subtitles about creating “real and meaningful change for the disabilities community” and how “every American should have the utmost chance to pursue his or her American dream.”

The video is the first statement of any kind released by the President’s reelection campaign that touches on the issues impacting more than 60 million Americans living with disabilities. That number includes people with visual impairments or hearing loss, people with visible conditions such as spinal cord injuries, and the wide range of non-visible disabilities such as learning disabilities, mental health disabilities, or autism.

Continue readingTrump Campaign Surrogate’s Message: “Uplifting and Celebrating Americans with Disabilities”