Hillary Clinton is not mincing words when it comes to President Trump's travel and immigration policies. On Monday, the former presidential candidate condemned Trump's silence on hate crimes and pointed out how his travel ban may be causing even more fear and resentment.
She tweeted, "With threats & hate crimes on rise, we shouldn't have to tell @POTUS to do his part. He must step up & speak out." The tweet also included a link to a story in The Kansas City Star about the widow of an Indian immigrant who was fatally shot last week in what authorities suspect was a hate crime. Trump has yet to comment on this case.
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With threats & hate crimes on rise, we shouldn't have to tell @POTUS to do his part. He must step up & speak out.https://t.co/QKKyXyuqNM
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 27, 2017
Her second post read, "Trump's own @DHSgov confirmed this weekend that the ban doesn't enhance security. But it foments fear & resentment."
She included a weekend report by The Associated Press on how the Department of Homeland Security analysts "found insufficient evidence that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries" on Trump's travel and immigration ban pose a real terror threat to the U.S.
Trump's own @DHSgov confirmed this weekend that the ban doesn't enhance security.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 27, 2017
But it foments fear & resentment.https://t.co/jbzGFBsKnF
The past few months have been a dark time for many minorities. The heartbreaking news that two Indian immigrants were shot, one of them fatally, by a white man who questioned whether they were in the country legally shows tensions appear to be worsening.
And Trump's actions may deepen the divide: His controversial travel and immigration ban may have been defeated in federal court, but it's expected that he will introduce a new executive order on Wednesday that will toe the same line.
There's also evidence that anti-Semitism in the U.S. is on the rise. A Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia was vandalised this week, just days after a similar incident occurred in the state of Missouri. And just today, there was a new wave of bomb threats made against Jewish Community Centres and day schools in 11 different states.
Even though he followed in the footsteps of his daughter Ivanka and spoke up against anti-Semitism last week, Trump has yet to address the hate crimes that have taken place since Election Day.
Will it take a pair of tweets by Clinton, the election rival he continues to mention, for the president to speak out? Who knows. But if Trump truly wants to be a leader for all people, he should condemn these crimes and stop using language that fuels hatred and reinforces the notion that it's "us" versus "them."
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