CINCINNATI -- What angers Jerry Springer the most about President Donald Trump?
“He took my show and brought it to the White House,” the former talk show host and Cincinnati mayor told a crowd Monday afternoon at the AFL-CIO annual Labor Day picnic at Coney Island.
Organized labor and Democrats brought Springer in to rally the troops for the final two months before the election. He was joined on stage by Democratic congressional candidates Aftab Pureval and Jill Schiller, Democratic Secretary of State candidate Kathleen Clyde and organized labor leaders.
Springer said everyone “has been drafted” to help out the cause in the next two months to get their candidates elected.
“It’s on us,” Springer said. “No more can we blame President Trump. After the first election, we didn’t know. Now we know.”
Springer and the other speakers impressed upon the crowd how important the local races are to the national picture. Pureval, in his speech before Springer’s, agreed that the fate of Congress could get decided here in Cincinnati. Pureval is facing Republican incumbent Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood.
“The road to the majority in the House of Representatives comes right through Cincinnati,” Pureval said as the crowd erupted in cheers.
Springer did find plenty of things slam Trump on his 15-minute speech, from immigration to his attacks on the press.
Known for his often raucous and lowbrow show, Springer is both a Democratic fundraiser, former mayor of Cincinnati, and critic of Trump.
“I don’t care this administration is giving someone like me a tax cut,” Springer said. “What an absurdity. What are you giving people like me a tax cut? If you’re willing, because a wealthy person gets a couple more dollars in a paycheck, if you’re willing to sell the soul of America for a couple more bucks, then don’t ever ask a young man or woman to fight and die for this county, because you don’t believe in it.”
Democratic candidates worked the crowd as their campaigns prepared to go into high gear for the fall.
Despite the heat, Pureval wore blue jeans, and confirmed they’re the same jeans he wore in the softball ad ridiculed by a recent Roll Call article. He said they’re Levi’s and not designer jeans.
Springer's appearance won't sway voters in the region, especially in the 1st Congressional District, said Hamilton County Republican GOP chairman Alex Triantafilou.
"Aftab and Jerry Springer's values won't sell to the West Side voters and to citizens in Warren County," Triantafilou said in a statement. "Aftab is on the extreme left of the Democratic Party and that's obvious from today. Working people have a friend in Steve Chabot as his policies have left us with a booming economy and a higher standard of living for every American."
