Since Donald Trump made waves over the weekend by appointing a known racist, anti-Semite, and white nationalist to his team, many have spoken out against the appointment. One such vocal opposition comes from Senator Bernie Sanders who issued an official statement on the matter on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking for most Americans, Sanders said that the nation has made far too much progress for it to be undone with the simple appointment of a hateful man to such a position of power and influence.
“This country, since its inception, has struggled to overcome discrimination of all forms: racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia. Over the years we have made progress in becoming a less discriminatory and more tolerant society – and we are not going backward.”
The Senator then went on to call Bannon out on exactly who he is.
“The appointment by President-elect Trump of a racist individual like Mr. Bannon to a position of authority is totally unacceptable. In a democratic society we can disagree all we want over issues, but racism and bigotry cannot be a part of any public policy. The appointment of Mr. Bannon by Mr. Trump must be rescinded.”
On the same day that Sanders made this strongly worded demand, Democratic congresspeople banded together to send a letter to Trump in which they, too, demanded that Bannon be removed. Over 160 of the 193 Democratic congresspeople signed the letter.
The removal of Bannon from Trump’s cabinet would be a relatively simple fix for the president-elect. After all, he has already had to change so many other appointments.
Sanders’ vocal opposition to the man – and his use of the term “racist” – is important, we just don’t know if Trump is listening.
