| Dear Katy, Since last week's white supremacist Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Donald Trump has doubled – even tripled – down on white supremacy and racist terror. It is time to do everything we can to shut down his extremist hate. Trump is by no means the only white supremacist in his administration. His White supremacists' House is filled with them. Yesterday, Trump caved to public pressure and fired Steve Bannon, founder of the white supremacist news site Breitbart, who served as his top adviser through most of his campaign and presidency.1 Still there is Muslim-ban architect Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka, an adviser known for his anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic views and Nazi ties. Trump's fascism, white supremacy, misogyny and bigotry are a threat not only to the communities he targets, but to the very fabric of our democracy. Media outlets should be challenging the right-wing hate Trump promotes, not giving his surrogates free airtime to legitimize it. That's why we're standing with our friends at Muslim Advocates and Bend the Arc to call on media outlets to stop booking Trump's racist surrogates. Can you add your voice today and demand they stop? Tell MSNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, NPR and other major traditional news outlets: Don't use your platform to let Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller or Sebastian Gorka promote Trump's hate. Click here to sign the petition. Bannon is an anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic white supremacist, domestic abuser and conspiracy theorist. He was one of the masterminds behind the Trump administration's failed attempts to gut health care for millions of Americans unconstitutional Muslim ban, anti-immigrant border wall and the sweeping abortion restrictions coming out of Congress.2 He believes in the dangerous lie that the United States is at war with Islam and America should be the center of a new movement of right-wing populism centering on white supremacy.3 While Bannon may no longer be in the White House, credible media outlets should still refuse to offer him a platform to promote his agenda of hate and xenophobia, which stokes dangerous and vile white supremacy. Just days before the white supremacist Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Gorka was on MSNBC saying that white supremacists are not the problem. 4 When Donald Trump refused to condemn a fire bomb thrown into a Minnesota mosque recently,5 MSNBC gave Gorka a platform to defend Trump's hateful, selective silence.6 Gorka "defends the indefensible" for the Trump administration.7 Whether it is justifying Trump's silence on hate crimes against Muslims, downplaying the dangers of white supremacist violence or escalating Trump's reckless antagonism of North Korea, Gorka is Trump's man. Miller's mentor is well-known white supremacist Richard Spencer,8 and he has deep ties to anti-Muslim and white supremacist projects and organizations. He recently defended an extremist immigration bill with Nazi-era coded language and by using white supremacist talking points to try to degrade the Statue of Liberty's message of welcoming all immigrants.9 Trump's racist, white supremacist surrogates should not be put on air as experts with valid opinions – it's time for MSNBC and other major news outlets to ban their hate. Tell MSNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, NPR and other major traditional news outlets: Don't use your platform to let Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller or Sebastian Gorka promote Trump's hate. Click here to sign the petition. Traditional corporate media outlets have a huge amount of power. They dictate the information, ideas and perspectives that many Americans consume as news. When they promote Trump surrogates who spew hatred, white supremacy, fascism, misogyny and bigotry, they are normalizing that hate and legitimizing every aspect of Trump's dangerous agenda. We have to hold the media accountable when they whitewash extremism and demand they push back on hatred and white supremacy. Tell MSNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, NPR and other major traditional news outlets: Don't use your platform to let Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller or Sebastian Gorka promote Trump's hate. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/bannon_miller_gorka?t=8&akid=24578%2E12967895%2EhcRdFl Thank you for everything you do, Tessa Levine, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name:  | References:
1. BBC, "How Breitbart became Donald Trump's favourite news site," Nov. 14, 2016.
2. Zack Beauchamp, "Steve Bannon, the Trump adviser who helped craft the 'Muslim ban,' explained," Vox, Jan. 29, 2017.
3. Jalal Baig, "Steve Bannon's war with Islam: Trump may not even understand his adviser's apocalyptic vision," Salon, Feb. 5, 2017.
4. Judd Legum, "White House adviser says people should stop criticizing white supremacists so much," ThinkProgress, Aug. 10, 2017.
5. Moustafa Bayoumi, "Trump is ignoring the Minnesota mosque bombing. We know why," The Guardian, Aug. 10, 2017.
6. Charlie May, "Sebastian Gorka defends Trump's silence on Minnesota mosque bombing: It could be a 'fake hate crime'," Salon, Aug. 8, 2017.
7. Bob Dreyfuss, "Sebastian Gorka, the West Wing's Phony Foreign-Policy Guru," RollingStone, Aug 10, 2017.
8. Meghana Kurup, "Trump asked to fire Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Sebastian Gorka," Washington Examiner, Aug. 15, 2017.
9. Josh Harkinson, "The Dark History of the White House Aides Who Crafted Trump's 'Muslim Ban,'" Mother Jones, Jan. 30, 2017. |
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