Regardless of your political beliefs, I think most of us can agree: Donald Trump is terrible. I know, I know, this probably isn’t news to anyone, considering for the second half of 2015, we’ve seen articles almost daily talking about his newest racist, sexist, xenophobic, or just plain idiotic plan to “Make America Great Again.”
One of the most recent horrible things he’s said, that Muslim immigrants should be banned from entering the country, has provoked a massive response from politicians, both democrats and republicans, and celebrities (like John Cena, for example). But what we might not always hear are some of the responses made by the actual people that he has offended and dehumanized. We should definitely be calling out Donald Trump and his supporters for the terrible things he’s saying, but we should be doing it by raising the voices of those who they are trying to silence. Here are a few of our favorite heartwarming and hilarious responses people had to horrible things Donald Trump has said in 2015:
You can read the rest of her fantastic letter here or watch a video of it here!
2. Women Live-Tweeting Donald Trump Details about their Menstrual Cycles
In a response to Donald Trump claiming Megyn Kelly was asking him tough questions because she was on her period, many women began tweeting details about their menstrual cycle to his twitter account, using the hashtag #periodsarenotaninsult. Femsplain writer Amber Gordon even started the website periodsarenotaninsult.com, as a hilarious and unfiltered way to remind Donald Trump (and everyone else) that periods are normal, natural, and do not make those who have them crazy. You can read more tweets here!
3. Video From Buzzfeed of People with Disabilities Making Fun of Donald Trump
After Donald Trump grossly mocked NY Times reporter Serge Kovaleski’s physical disability in one of his campaign videos, a group of people with disabilities partnered with Buzzfeed to create this hilarious video of them mocking Trump and the racist, sexist, and just plain ridiculous things he’s said. You can find the video here; it’s absolutely worth the watch!
4. This Tweet by a Muslim-American Student to Donald Trump
As I said before, many have responded to Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the United States, and one of the simplest yet most effective responses has been this tweet from University of Chicago student Firas Alkhateeb. He writes “Does anyone know if the concentration camps Trump is planning for us Muslims will have WiFi?” Firas’ tweet is a dark, comedic reminder that banning and isolating people of certain ethnic and religious minorities is a gross violation of human rights (and yes, it’s what Hitler did). You can read people’s response tweets to Firas here!
5. Open letter written to Donald Trump by another Muslim-American Student
In response to Trump’s horrible claim that he also wants to register Muslim Americans currently living in the United States, student Marwa Balkar, like Adriana Almanza, writes a letter to Trump on Facebook and says that she is completely willing to wear an ID that indicates she is Muslim. That ID will be a peace sign, which she says represents her own values and the values of her religion:
“I heard you want to track us as well. Great! You can come with me on my Cancer Awareness walks at the local middle school, or you can follow me to work where it’s my job to create happiness. You can also see how my local mosque makes PB&J sandwiches for the homeless and hosts interfaith dinners where everyone is welcome. Maybe then you’ll see that me being Muslim doesn’t make me any less American than you are. Maybe if you walk in my footsteps, you can see that I am not any less human than you are. Salaamu alaikum.”
You can read the rest of this incredible letter here!
I really want to commend these people for shutting down horrible, dehumanizing things Trump has said with humor, positivity, and self-love. Donald Trump certainly isn’t the only person that believes and preaches hateful, horrific statements about people who aren’t like him (rich, white, and male), but I have hope that in 2016, the fight against his hate-speech will only grow larger and stronger. No matter how hard he may try, if we stand together and support each other, 2016 can be the year we prove that Trump can’t silence us.