Actress and former Ugly Betty star America Ferrera thanked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for speaking out on immigration – but not for the reasons one would think.
In a guest column for the Huffington Post, Ferrera called Trump’s remarks on immigration during his campaign announcement “incredibly ignorant and racist,” but said she would leave the “chastising” to Univision and NBC, with whom Trump severed his business relationships last week.
You see, what you just did with your straight talk was send more Latino voters to the polls than several registration rallies combined! Thank you for that. Here we are pounding the pavement to get American Latinos to the polls, while your tactic proves most effective. Remarks like yours will serve brilliantly to energize Latino voters and increase turnout on election day against you and any other candidate who runs on a platform of hateful rhetoric.
Ferrera said that “Latinos are the largest, youngest and fastest-growing constituency in the United States of America,” and “what’s more, we are the future.”
“This is the America we are actually living in,” she continued. “I hope by now you understand that without the Latino vote, there is no chance of you ever winning the election. If you don’t believe me, you could ask President Bush or you could even ask President Obama.”
You, Mr. Trump, are living in an outdated fantasy of a bigoted America. Last week, America celebrated some amazing milestones — marriage equality, universal healthcare, removing of the confederate flag — making it clear in which direction the country is moving. That is why racist remarks that play to extremists won’t change the tide, no matter how hard you try. They will only serve to rally more Latino voters to the polls. Your negativity and your poorly thought out speech ignited a fire in our community. Thank you, Mr. Trump!
Ferrera closed by vowing to “silence” Trump at the polls by using Latinos’ “growing position in U.S. politics.”
“Thank you for helping us in our work to energize the Latino vote and to usher in our shared future! Keep it up!”
Read the rest of Ferrera’s open letter to Trump here.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.