Donald Trump Praises Protesters After First Blaming Media for Inciting Them
The president-elect expressed an appreciation for dissent and called for unity in an early morning Twitter message on Friday. But don't expect the protests to stop or protesters to be silenced.
Trump protesters in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren / AP)
Over 60 million people did not vote for Donald Trump, and they are not happy the Republican candidate won the election.
WATCH: Making Sense of the 2016 Election and Where We Go From Here
Suicide hotlines have reported a spike in call volume after Trump’s win. According to the New York Daily News, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline received 660 calls between 1-2 a.m. EST on Wednesday–more than 2 1/2 times the average–once the race was called for the New York businessman.
“It clearly is and was an indication that there’s a lot of anxiety and fear around the election,” National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Director John Draper told the Daily News.
People are anxious and angry about what is going to happen next with Trump’s presidential administration. Thousands of those people have hit the streets in cities across the United States to protest their displeasure.
On Thursday evening, President-elect Trump responded to the protesters with one of his favorite means of communication: Twitter.
Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016
After first blaming the media for inciting professional protesters, Trump changed his tune nine hours later with a 3 a.m. tweet on Friday.
Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016
Trump’s new message expressed an appreciation for dissent and called for unity, but don’t expect the protests to stop or protesters to be silenced.
On Saturday in Los Angeles, a #UnitedAgainstHate march against Trump is planned. So far, 12,000 people have said they are going. Unión del Barrio, a political group in Southern California, is organizing the event and “calling on ALL organizations and individuals that stand against injustice, against racism, against imperialist war, against fascism, against sexism to JOIN TOGETHER to march to show Trump that LA will not allow his racist/fascist attacks on the working class!”
Revitalizing the social justice movement is one of the silver linings of Trump’s victory. The work of organizers and protesters, like the work of the Trump administration, has just begun.
READ: Donald Trump Got Elected President and This Is How It Happened
Tim O’Reilly, the founder of O’Reilly Media and the man who popularized the terms “open source” and “Web 2.0,” has some advice for how Trump protesters should fight.
Let us fight what needs to be fought. But let’s fight for, not against. Let’s not meet anger with anger, hatred with hatred. Let us fight with intelligence and strategic insight into points of leverage to achieve positive outcomes. Let us fight with honor, and kindness, and the love of the good.
Reilly’s statement echoed the warning Bernie Sanders gave to Trump.
To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him.
Read O’Reilly’s full piece here.
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