Dear MoveOn member,
This past weekend, a mob of white men marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, carrying flaming torches and shouting, "Heil, Trump!"1 As a columnist in The Washington Post said, Trump might as well have "lit every one of those torches in Charlottesville."2
And now, after this weekend's horrific murder, Trump just keeps piling on the hate. Yesterday he again cast blame on "all sides" and refused to disavow his advisers with ties to white supremacist organizations.
Not only did Trump stoke the fires of racism and white supremacy to get elected, but once in office, he chose white supremacists Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, and Stephen Miller to be among some of his closest White House advisers.
That's why we're launching an emergency campaign to demand that lawmakers
1. Censure Donald Trump. Censure is a formal, public statement of disapproval that requires a vote by Congress. A bipartisan vote would send a strong message to Trump and the world that his behavior is unacceptable and doesn't represent American values.
2. Begin the impeachment process. For months now, we've been demanding that Congress begin the process to remove Donald Trump from office. Yesterday's behavior was yet another example of just how unfit he is for the office of the presidency. And how urgently impeachment is needed.
3. Remove Trump's white supremacist advisers from the White House. Congress controls Trump's budget, which gives them tacit control of his staffing and the power to demand the removal of white supremacist advisers from their positions.
Our work ahead won't be easy. But we have no choice but to work as hard as we can for as long as it takes—to condemn, isolate, and ultimately remove racist, neo-Nazi sympathizers from the White House and confront the stain of white supremacy wherever it appears in our country.
Here's some of what we're doing together already:
- Demanding that Congress immediately censure Donald Trump, and begin an impeachment inquiry.
- Standing with and amplifying the calls from allies and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who are condemning hate, calling for congressional hearings, and demanding the immediate removal of Trump's white supremacist advisers.3
- Cohosting a huge Sunday night call to identify ways all of us can engage in the essential work of dismantling systemic white supremacy and its symbols in America.
- Growing MoveOn's proven Video Lab—which uses compelling and accessible fact-based content to cut through smoke screens and lies about Bannon, Gorka, Miller, the rise of hate groups since Election Day, and Trump's own hatemongering—and has already generated more than 300 million views in just over a year.
MoveOn members have opposed Trump's top white nationalist adviser, Steve Bannon, since the beginning. We issued a clarion call of outrage mere hours after Trump's announcement that he had appointed Bannon as a special adviser—and we've demanded his removal ever since.
In December, we worked tenaciously with more than a dozen allies to deliver more than one million petition signatures to Congress, putting lawmakers on notice by channeling grassroots fury and pressure. And we promised that we would not yield. Then, alongside veterans groups, MoveOn members campaigned for Bannon's immediate removal from the all-too-powerful National Security Council and cheered together when he was finally ousted.4
And then in June, we demanded that Congress launch an impeachment inquiry over Trump's flagrant abuse of power.
We know that our non-stop organizing is making a difference.
Trump's approval ratings are tanking. Media reports indicate that Bannon is on thin ice, openly reviled as the "lunatic fringe."5 And lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are speaking out against hate—but not nearly enough. Speaking out ourselves, and making sure our lawmakers join in and then take meaningful action, is what we must do.
With your help, it's time to expand our efforts to demand the formal censure of Trump, to redouble our efforts to push for an impeachment inquiry, and to demand the removal of not just Bannon, but of Gorka and Miller, too—men who are equally dangerous.
We don't have a moment to lose: news reports indicate that "alt-right" gatherings are spiking across the U.S.6
It's time to censure and remove the "alt-right's" most powerful and dangerous champions from inside the White House—before this toxic tidal wave gains more ground.
Will you chip in $3 and join MoveOn's ongoing effort to kick hate out of the White House?
Thanks for all you do.
–Jo, Stephen, Mark, Amy, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Trump lit the torches of white supremacy in Charlottesville. We must extinguish them." The Washington Post, August 13, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/12621?t=4&akid=188300%2E10220574%2ExAOf2P
2. Ibid.
3. "Democrats press GOP to scrutinize rise in white supremacy," Politico, August 14, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/12568?t=6&akid=188300%2E10220574%2ExAOf2P
4. "MoveOn statement on Bannon being removed from NSC," MoveOn.org, April 5, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/12572?t=8&akid=188300%2E10220574%2ExAOf2P
5. "Bannon in Limbo as Trump Faces Growing Calls for the Strategist's Ouster," The New York Times, August 14, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/12574?t=10&akid=188300%2E10220574%2ExAOf2P
6. "White nationalists planning rallies in SF, Berkeley," San Francisco Chronicle, August 15, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/12655?t=12&akid=188300%2E10220574%2ExAOf2P
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back towards sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
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