Jason Delgado
Congressman Al Lawson and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday attended the grand opening of the Joe Biden “Victory Center” in Tallahassee.
The Victory Center, one of several across the state, will serve as a community station where Democratic supporters can pick up yard signs, literature, and other campaign supplies ahead of the presidential election.
Notably, the grand opening took place on the afternoon of the first and only Vice Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence.
Lawson made note of the highly anticipated debate and said Harris will present herself to voters with a “message of hope.”
“Since I’ve been in Congress the last three and a half years, I can tell you how important it is for us to get a new President, someone who is going to be concerned about healthcare, someone who is going to be concerned about the plight of with COVID-19,” Lawson said in support of the Democratic ticket.
Lawson also criticized President Donald Trump‘s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and called on Democratic voters to show up on election day.
Fried, who Lawson described as the “next Governor of Florida,” echoed the message.
“We have an opportunity here in the State of Florida to turn our state blue and to make sure that we are turning the page on this historic, awful, horrific chapter of the last four years of the Trump administration,” Fried said.
Fried, who is the state’s lone elected Democrat, described Biden as a caring person with a heart for the middle and working class.
Alternatively, she described Trump, who is recovering from COVID-19, in less flattering words.
“The current resident of this White House, all he is doing is dividing us and putting fear into us,” she said. “Though we are so grateful that he is is out of the hospital, the message that he is delivering to the American people is reckless.”
Lawson and Fried helped volunteers pass out campaign signs to guests after the press conference. Fried also took a moment to wave a Biden-Harris sign outside of the Victory Center entrance.
Pence and Harris are scheduled to debate Wednesday at 9 p.m. in Salt Lake City, Utah.
