There are a few ways people can react to Donald Trump being elected as the 45th President of the United States.
Some have seen the election result as a reinforcement of their racist, sexist and/or Islamophobic views.
Some have told us to ignore everything that’s preceded and followed the vote, for whatever reason.
https://twitter.com/_Zeets/status/796720830462001154
But some, like UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, have decided now is not the time to gloss over what is staring us in the face.
Trump was the preferred candidate of white supremacists, to the point that former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke claimed credit for his election.
Trump built his platform, to a not-insignificant degree, on anti-immigrant sentiment and broadly racist views.
That can be seen in his proposal to build a wall on the US-Mexico border and make Mexico pay for it.
It can be seen in his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, even if the statement disappeared from his website with little fanfare after he defeated Hillary Clinton.
It can be seen in the antisemitic imagery he used to campaign against Hillary Clinton.
Trump deleted his antisemitic propaganda image of Hillary Clinton — he knew EXACTLY what he was doing posing that. pic.twitter.com/aBqKwthV4J
— S.A. Barton (@Tao23) July 2, 2016
It can be seen in the way his victory has emboldened racists, sexists, Islamophobes, anti-Semites and homophobes in the 48 hours since he was elected.
So it is refreshing, at least, to see Rabbi Mirvis refuse to mince his words when talking about the president-elect.
Britain's @chiefrabbi tells @emmabarnett that he's "nervous" and "concerned" about the election of Donald Trump as US president pic.twitter.com/9vqsFtBzOD
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) November 10, 2016
“It’s so sad to reflect on the fact that the next president of the United States is a man who is unfortunately a racist,” Rabbi Mirvis told the BBC during a radio interview.
Amid the uncomfortable racial landscape that has gripped America, some solace can be taken in the fact that at least one public figure is prepared to speak this way about Trump.
And a number of members of the Jewish community have spoken in similar tones, both before and after his statement.
https://twitter.com/peoppeor/status/796753409915260928
https://twitter.com/AmLinville/status/796718160204414977
Trump is extremely anti-semitic and as a Jew, i feel extremely threatened and frightened since he mirrors the man who wiped out my family
— cXc (@confuseXconsume) November 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/DenaliElisabeth/status/796328531458461696
I can't sleep. For the 1st time I am afraid as a Jew as to hate crimes that will ride in on Trump's coat tails #ellection2016
— Amos Elroy (@Aelroy) November 9, 2016
