Mississippi mayor works against Trump, won’t seek 3rd term

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) - An outspoken Democratic mayor in Republican-controlled Mississippi says he will work to defeat President Donald Trump this year and will not seek reelection himself in 2021.

Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton has clashed with Republican Gov. Tate Reeves over Mississippi’s response to COVID-19. Shelton wrote in an opinion piece published Sunday in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that Trump has shown “ a criminally inept response” to the pandemic and for several reasons “is a threat to our Nation itself.”

“We have a President that consistently fuels the flames of white nationalism and racism. … We have a President with one of the most provably corrupt administrations in our Nation’s history,” Shelton wrote. “We have a President that has openly solicited foreign assistance in his campaigns and in the style of a despot recently floated the idea of delaying this year’s election.”

Shelton said in an interview with the newspaper that he does not want to back down from his beliefs because it will cost him politically. He said he had thinking the past six months about whether to seek a third term in 2021, especially since he and his wife are soon expecting their first child.

Shelton said he will push to get Democrat Joe Biden elected president, but he will not have a formal role or be paid by the Biden campaign.

Tupelo has a population of about 38,300. It is the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

Shelton gained widespread attention with a June 26 Facebook that told people to follow coronavirus safety guidelines and debunked rumors.

“ANTIFA is not coming to Tupelo,” Shelton wrote, “Elvis statues are not being removed, you are not the target of some type of global conspiracy, it is impossible to erase history and no one has attempted to do so, covid is not a hoax, you shouldn’t believe and share posts that are obviously false or used as political propaganda, and there is nothing ‘liberal’ about any of the actions that have been taken by our administration regarding these matters.”