DNC 2020: Woman whose father died of Covid-19 says 'his only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump'
A woman whose father died after getting infected with coronavirus spoke at the opening night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, August 17, where she blamed the failure of President Donald Trump’s leadership as well as the mishandling of the pandemic by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey for her father's untimely death in June. Kristin Urquiza said, “My dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, should be here today, but he isn’t." Back in July, she wrote a scathing obituary where she said, "Dad’s death was completely unnecessary and wouldn’t have happened had we acted quickly and swiftly in a way that prioritized public health."
Her father became ill on June 11 and tested positive for COVID-19 the next day. He told his life partner, Brenda, five days later, that he needed to go to the hospital. His condition continued to decline as he was kept on a high oxygen treatment for 10 days before he was moved to the ICU and put on a ventilator. Four days later, on June 30, Kristin's father died. According to her, he had no underlying health conditions.
“His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life,” she said at the DNC. “I am not alone. The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: the America that Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in."
Kristin added that his father supported Trump during the 2016 election. “He had faith in Donald Trump. He voted for him, listened to him, believed in him and his mouthpieces when they said that coronavirus was under control and going to disappear,” she said.
Kristin concluded her speech by letting the crowd know that she did not plan to follow in her father's footsteps and vote for Trump this year. “One of the last things that my father said to me was that he felt betrayed by the likes of Donald Trump. So when I cast my vote for Joe Biden, I will do it for my dad," she said.
When Ducey listed the stay-at-home orders on May 15 and allowed businesses to open back up, Kristin said in her obituary, “my dad was completely under the impression that it was safe to resume activities as normal.” Her mother added, "His friends called, 'come on, we're going to have a few drinks' or 'we're going to do karaoke.' You know, he just couldn't stay away." Weeks after visiting a karaoke bar, Mark tested positive for the virus.
A day before he died, Ducey closed bars again on June 29. "I believe that our elected officials have the power and the responsibility to keep their constituents safe,” his daughter said. "I think that Ducey’s got blood on his hands."
She said at the time that she will not let her dad's death go to waste and instead work to set an example through the lost life. "I will not allow him to be just another number, another death," she said. "I am calling on people across the state as well as people across the country to come forward with your story to put faces and names to the lives that we have lost so that not only Gov. Ducey but the Trump administration takes this crisis as a crisis so that there are no more deaths."
