Former Obama Official: DeJoy's 'Backtrack' Is Just A 'Meaningless PR Statement'

By Aliza Worthington — August 19, 2020

Former campaign manager for President Barack Obama, David Plouffe, joined Nicolle Wallace to discuss recent backtracking by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. According to CNN:

Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy reversed course Tuesday, saying that all changes being made to the Postal Service would be suspended until after the November 3 election, just as 20 Democratic states announced plans to file federal lawsuits.

DeJoy said that some of the deferred decisions mean that retail hours at post offices will not change, mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain in place and no mail processing facilities will be closed.

At least 20 Democratic attorneys general across the country are launching a multi-pronged legal effort to push back on the recent changes that disrupted mail delivery across the country and triggered accusations that Trump and his appointees are trying to undermine mail-in voting.

But Plouffe was not assuaged by this recent turn of events. Far from it. Wallace ran down the list of items Plouffe had advised Democrats to set in motion (many of which are indeed happening now), and Plouffe wants them ALL to continue with the same intensity.

1) Prime time hearings, now.
2) Subpoenas to Trump WH and camp officials. This is a RICO case
3) Visit local post offices with cameras - show people what is happening.
4) Events with those getting Rx late
5) Involve governors
5) No rest, no vacation. Go to war for our country.

— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) August 14, 2020

Why? Because we cannot trust ANYTHING that comes out of the mealy mouth of a Trump appointee. It is either a lie, or a work-around.

PLOUFFE: Well, Nicolle, I think that posture has to continue. I think the DeJoy statement was a defensive PR statement. I would consider it meaningless until we see a real change. The standard here has to be whether it's prescription drugs, social security check, letter to a family member or ballot, it's delivered in the same amount of time we would have last year or the year before, the year before that. And, you see there's loopholes in what he said today about overtime and other things. So Democrats have to stay on this. Anyone can tell a story today with a phone. You can do compelling video. I would make the hearings not just Monday, I would continue them, I would file subpoenas. There's no way that the Trump campaign and Jared Kushner are talking to Kanye West, and this doesn't go all the way to the Oval Office. Trump could not be clearer. This is a desperate strategy on his part to try and make it less likely for people to vote, vote by mail, and for those votes to be counted in a timely (enough) manner to count. I would think you're going to have a paper trail, here, and Democrats ought to be all over this, and what we can't do is say, "Oh, look, we brought DeJoy to kneel. Everything's gonna be okay!" That is the LAST thing Democrats can do.

WALLACE: Sorry, I'm so glad you said that, I mean, let me go back to the second thing that came out of your mouth. I was waiting for the whole thing. Let me say this, it was a meaningless PR statement. That is what happened today. A meaningless PR statement.

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