Supporters of President-elect Donald J. Trump are a minority in the Bay Area. But they decided to fight back in Santa Clara, which includes Silicon Valley, where the county board of supervisors passed a virulently anti-Trump resolution on Tuesday.
The resolution, which came on the eve of Trump’s meeting with tech leaders, is one of several such measures that Democrat-controlled local governments have taken in the weeks since Trump won the election. It states, in part (original emphasis):
WHEREAS, Donald J. Trump is poised to become the 45th President of the United States of America, notwithstanding his loss of the popular vote by over 2 million votes; and
WHEREAS, the President-Elect has repeatedly made statements offensive to women, immigrants, religious minorities, racial and ethnic minorities, veterans, the disabled, the LGBTQ community, and the general public; and
WHEREAS, the President-Elect has threatened to create a registry of Muslim Americans, to bar all Muslims from entering the country, to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, to build a wall on the country’s border with Mexico, to impose an ideological test for entry to the United States, and to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities; and
WHEREAS, the President-Elect has promised to repeal federal regulations protecting LGBTQ individuals; to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which ensures health coverage for millions of Americans; to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement; and to remove environmental protections put in place by President Obama’s administration …
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara, State of California, that Santa Clara County unequivocally rejects the politics of fear and hate, which have divided our fellow Americans; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Santa Clara County continues to embrace all people, regardless of their skin color, country of birth, faith, sex, gender, partners, or abilities; and …
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Santa Clara County shall resist any and all efforts to profile undocumented immigrants or report them to the federal government for immigration enforcement, and …
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Santa Clara County will continue to promote civility, honesty, truthfulness, and mutual respect in all areas of civil and political discourse; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Santa Clara County calls on members of our community to hew to our values as Americans; to be vigilant against attacks on those values; to protect one another; to overcome the politics of fear and hate; to bridge our divides; to stay informed and engaged; to participate in our great democracy; and to set an example for the rest of our nation …
Ironically, Santa Clara County was the site of the worst anti-Trump violence of the entire campaign, where Trump supporters leaving a rally in San Jose in June were beaten, bloodied and chased through the streets in full view of the national media. The mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo, actually blamed Trump for the violence, saying that Trump’s rhetoric had invited the attacks: “At some point Donald Trump needs to take responsibility for the irresponsible behavior of his campaign,” he said.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors passed the resolution, with three votes in favor and two abstentions, the San Jose Mercury News reports — but not before receiving complaints from the minority of Trump supporters in the county.
One e-mailed comment, from San Jose resident Jerry Mungai, read as follows:
Supervisor [Dave] Cortese’s proposed resolution responding to the 2016 presidential election is filled with inaccuracies, half- truths that would require several pages to rebut.
I wish to make several points, however.
Supervisor Cortese mentions, as does the mainstream media unrelentingly, that Donald Trump lost the popular vote; but he fails to point out that the Constitution requires a candidate to win the Electoral College (EC) vote. Candidate Clinton was so certain she would win the EC vote that she chose to ignore visiting key EC states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
With all the intellectual and financial resources available to her, she should have campaigned in such a manner as to assure victory in those states. She chose not to. More importantly, her message was unappealing to the voters. Have you noticed how the stock market is reacting to the Trump victory?
Supervisor Cortese deplores some Trump comments about women; but I don’t recall him condemning Hollywood’s movies that are laced with vulgar language, explicit sex scenes and deplorable treatment of women.
Cortese chooses to ignore the fact that Trump won more votes from women, Latinos and blacks than Romney won in 2012; and key advisors included members of the LGBTQ (e.g. Peter Thiel), women (Kellyanne Conway) and black (Ben Carson) communities. He also ignores the fact that Trump is selecting women (Elaine Chao & Betsy DeVos) and blacks (Carson) for his cabinet. In selecting cabinet candidates he looks for the best person to help America thrive, IRRESPECTIVE of skin color or gender! In other words, he promotes equal opportunity over equal results. He looks for those who can transcend entrenched bureaucracy and deliver promised results and help all Americans to thrive.
He also promises, most importantly, to uphold the rule of law, like protecting our borders. ALL Americans support LEGAL immigration; condoning illegal immigration is a slap in the face to those who follow our rules! And this proposed resolution is also a slap in the face of those who obey the law.
I respectfully urge the Supervisors to reject Supervisor Cortese’s proposed resolution in response to the 2016 presidential election.
Another Trump supporter, Edward Sattler, wrote:
I have different views than this Resolution and want to be represented too. …
The rhetoric of the Resolution speaks about hate crimes, but does not include the Trump supporters who were surrounded, repeatedly violently attacked, chased, and left blood spattered in an ugly display after they attended a Trump Rally here in San Jose. Twenty-four people reported assaults, but only 20 people were arrested. This resolution also does not include mention of attacks on Trump supporters in schools and communities after the election. There have been many. …
I suggest we accept the election results and the fact that vast portions of the United States may have some or many views that are different from Santa Clara County. Does that make them bad, immoral, or despicable? I don’t think so. Our great country was build from many peoples of differing views all working to build a better life for themselves and make our country better. Lets set this ill-conceived Resolution aside, stop wasting taxpayer dollars and time, and get back to the business of improving Santa Clara County.
There were also comments in favor of the resolution.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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