America speaking for America! On Thursday, July 2, America Ferrera penned a thank you letter to 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump. Yes, you read that right. Ferrera, 31, whose parents hail from Honduras, wrote the piece, which was posted on HuffPost Latino Voices, in response to Trump’s recent racist comments.
“Dear Donald,” she began. “You’ve said some pretty offensive things about Latino immigrants recently, and I think they’re worth addressing. Because, you know, this is the United States of America, where I have the right to speak up even if I’m not a billionaire. Isn’t that awesome?”
But instead of slamming Trump for his comments, Ferrera went on to thank him, noting that his words will inspire Latino voters to visit the polls come election day.
“Remarks like yours will serve brilliantly to energize Latino voters and increase turnout on election day against you and any other candidate who runs on a platform of hateful rhetoric,” the Ugly Betty actress wrote, adding, “You are running for President in a country where the Latino population grew by over 49 percent from 2000-2012, while the rest of the country grew by 5.8 percent.”
She went on to note that Trump had destroyed his chances at the presidency, writing, “I hope by now you understand that without the Latino vote, there is no chance of you ever winning this election.”
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star also referenced Trump’s quotes outright, noting, “No, Mr. Trump, you may not reduce us to drug dealers and rapists. We are moms and dads, sons and daughters. We are valedictorians and honor students. We are college graduates, bankers, police officers, entertainers, teachers, journalists, politicians and we are the future of America.”
Trump’s troubles began in June when he announced he was running for president, saying in his speech, “The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else's problems. When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best… They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
After the backlash began, the 69-year-old refused to back down, telling Us Weekly, “There is nothing to apologize for. Everything that I said is correct. People are flowing through the borders and we have no idea who they are, where they’re coming from.”
Following his comments, Univision refused to air Trump’s Miss USA pageant, NBC fired the tycoon from the network, and a handful of Miss USA hosts, judges, and performers dropped out of the show, which was recently picked up by the Reelz channel.
