More than 150 restaurant owners endorse Biden, citing Trump's COVID-19 response
Source: The Hill
More than 150 restaurant owners and chefs on Thursday released a joint letter announcing their support for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, arguing that President Trump “has failed the restaurant industry” in his responses to the coronavirus pandemic. The endorsement comes as the food industry continues to face the impacts of COVID-19 across the country, with Yelp reporting last week that approximately 60 percent of the restaurants on its platform have been forced to permanently close since the start of the pandemic.
Thursday’s letter, titled “Restaurants for Biden,” cites analysis from the National Restaurant Association that “three decades of restaurant jobs were lost during the national shutdown in March and April,” asserting that the continued strains on restaurants could be tied to Trump’s delayed responses to the pandemic.
“Throughout the crisis, the restaurant industry has begged this administration for support,” the group wrote in the letter. “We have pleaded with officials to fix the PPP program, recognize the oncoming tsunami of restaurant closings that we are now starting to see and respond with a plan,” the group added, referring to the Paycheck Protection Program.
“Yet, at every turn, the President has mishandled the response,” the group continued. “He has downplayed our struggles, refuted the idea that restaurants will suffer because they rely on social interaction and insisted there were no personal protective equipment shortages that are required to keep restaurant staff safe.”
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/518324-more-than-150-restaurant-owners-endorse-biden-citing-trumps-covid-19
The owners and chefs wrote in the letter that Biden “would take the immediate steps needed to solve the COVID crisis and support America’s small businesses and restaurants in our recovery.”
... the announcement came during National Small Business Week.
