The voice of US presidential hopeful Donald Trump may be getting louder as the election campaign rolls on, but one American voter has managed to cut through the slogans to deliver a powerful message.
Posting an open letter on Facebook earlier today, photojournalist and founder of Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton, tackled one of the major issues that continues to plague America as a nation, and one that is gleefully propagated by the real estate mogul and his band of die-hard supporters – racism.
“The hateful one is you,” Stanton powerfully wrote.
In the letter, Stanton describes Trump as “a man who has encouraged prejudice and violence in the pursuit of personal power”.
“I’ve watched you retweet racist images. I’ve watched you retweet racist lies. I’ve watched you take 48 hours to disavow white supremacy. I’ve watched you joyfully encourage violence, and promise to ‘pay the legal fees’ of those who commit violence on your behalf. I’ve watched you advocate the use of torture and the murder of terrorists’ families. I’ve watched you gleefully tell stories of executing Muslims with bullets dipped in pig blood. I’ve watched you compare refugees to ‘snakes,’ and claim that ‘Islam hates us’.”
Stanton’s letter comes at a critical time in the US election process and following weeks of sidestepping, denial and conflicted messaging from Trump.
With many fearing that Trump and his oft-silent glamazon wife may win the Republican nomination and potentially make it all the way to the White House, Stanton continues, “You are not a ‘unifier.’ You are not ‘presidential.’ You are not a ‘victim’ of the very anger that you’ve joyfully enflamed for months.”
This week, a rally in Barack Obama’s home city of Chicago had to be cancelled after supporters and protesters began to clash.
Last week at a rally in North Carolina, a white Trump supporter punched a black protester in the face without provocation. The protester was tackled by multiple officers and arrested, while Trump supporters booed him from the stadium.
After being interrupted at a rally in Kentucky two weeks ago, Trump told his supporters to “get him out. Try not to hurt him – if you do, I’ll defend you in court.”
Last year, Trump also yelled at a Black Lives Matter protester, saying, “get him the hell out”.
And in February, Trump refused to condemn the Ku Klux Klan or its former leader David Duke, who encouraged Klan sympathisers to vote for the eternally pucker-lipped billionaire. Speaking to CNN, Trump said, “Certainly, I would disavow it if I thought there was something wrong.”
In the letter, which was shared with the page’s 17 million followers and has since been shared over 750,000 times since being published, Stanton concludes, “There is no correct time to oppose violence and prejudice. The time is always now.”
Read the full letter below…
Top Comments
If he has the Left that worked up, he must be on the right track. The irony of a guy from New York saying Trump is wrong to say Islam hates the US, I guess he slept in on 9/11.
So, let me get this straight - he can continually tell bald-faced lies, speak in the most vulgar and crass manner about women, encourage racism and bigotry, even say he'll force the military to commit war crimes and "he must be on the right track" because a group of people you don't like (for whatever reason) object to the above? Sounds like a Trump-voter's logic to me!
I'd say Trump has the Republican Establishment more worked up than the Left.
IT's not just the "left". I get tired of bigots hiding behind the "right" wing label and labeling anyone who disagrees with them "lefties". My whole family are dyed in the wool right wing folk and they think Donald Trump is a blowhard, racist, violent-inciting bigot who is going to ruin the US, and possibly the world, with his Hilter-like agenda.
Yes Trump can be offensive. But he is the best of a bad bunch. He does have some good ideas
Please, name me one.
Trump's immigration policies for one.
They are pie in the sky, bigoted, racist bullshit.
You're dreaming if you think Trump will actually build a wall or deliver on any of his crazy promises. He is talking the talk and people love that...for now.