The biggest newspaper in Detroit, the Free Press, took on Donald Trump with a front-page editorial that blasted the Republican front-runner for his comments about Muslims at the border, and telling him in the bluntest of terms: You’re a bigot and racist.
“Trump’s indictment of Muslims en masse is nothing more than rank bigotry and racism, a reach back to the darkest chapters of America’s history and a betrayal of the founding principles of our nation,” the editorial read.
The newspaper also made clear its reason for responding to Trump’s remarks was that “some slurs are so heinous that they must be answered. And some lies are so vile that they become dangerous if not met with truth, and strength.”
It went on, speaking to the terror attacks committed by radical Islamists in the past: “Blame for the actions of a small number of violent extremists cannot be portioned out to every member of the world’s second-largest religion. Trump’s assertion that Muslims should be barred from entering this country, because they might be terrorists, slurs the integrity of more than 1.6 billion people. It defies common sense, and is likely unconstitutional.”
The editorial then roped in the whole Republican Party as a racist group, all too willing to embrace perceived radical Trump remarks about Muslims.
“Decades of the GOP walking the line of racist discourse have given Trump permission to espouse and promote outright bigotry,” the newspaper said. “That leading Republicans have denounced Trump provides only modest cover. Trump’s soaring support reveals harsh truths about the party base that so-called establishment Republicans have built, with fear and bigotry and xenophobia, with the notion that a fictitious, former America should be our ideal – ignoring the reality of life for women and minorities during that golden age – and most harmfully, by perpetuating the idea that success for others, particularly non-white, non-Christian, non-heterosexual, non-male others, means they will lose. It’s a false equation, but one that has given Republican candidates significant traction among some demographics. This is the subtext for the last 50 years of Republican politics: fear. And hatred.”
As the Detroit Free Press pointed, “America’s Muslim community has its deepest roots” in Michigan and is “home to more Middle East immigrants than any other part of the country.”
And for that reason, it said: “From many, we are one. … So when Donald Trump says America should close its borders to Muslim immigrants, he’s not just attacking a fundamental American strength. He’s attacking us – our community, our neighbors, the rich, diverse fabric that makes up southeast Michigan.”
The editorial concluded: “And so: We stand with San Bernardino. We stand with Paris. We stand with Beirut. We stand with Syrian refugees, seeking a safer life in our country, still a beacon of democracy and freedom, despite Trump’s efforts to the contrary. We stand with the Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, Hindus, Buddhists and all others who make up our community. We stand with America.”
A separate story in the same edition characterized Trump as “divisive, dangerous and downright crazy” in describing “a few choice words Muslim youths across metro Detroit had” for the Republican presidential candidate.
The Detroit newspaper wasn’t the only one hitting hard at Trump. The New York Daily News put out a cartoon of the billionaire that showed him as a sword-wielding nutcase, holding the severed head of the Statue of Liberty in his right hand.
The New York Daily News tweeted the cartoon alongside this message: “Early look at tomorrow’s Page 1 … TIME TO SPEAK UP.”
