Last Wednesday, Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01) organized a letter from him and 169 other House Democrats calling on Donald Trump to fire Breitbart publisher and newly appointed chief Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon. The letter highlights Bannon’s ties to the White Nationalist; his publication and promotion of stories that peddled in anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and racism; and the fact that his appointment could give social license to the recent wave of hate crimes.
The text of the letter is below:
Dear President-elect Trump:
Immediately following your victory, many Americans were optimistic and hopeful that you would take the steps necessary to unify our country following the divisive and contentious election. In your election night speech you said, “Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division. It is time for us to come together as one united people.” Unfortunately, your appointment of Stephen Bannon, whose ties to the White Nationalist movement have been well-documented, directly undermines your ability to unite the country. As elected representatives of millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to appoint Mr. Bannon to White House Chief Strategist.
Since the election there have been a number of incidents across the country in which minorities, including Muslim Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Jewish Americans, have been the targets of violence, harassment and intimidation. Mr. Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your Administration. Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump Administration and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.
As the Executive Chairman of Breitbart News, Mr. Bannon repeatedly and aggressively pushed stories that promote anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and racism. During an interview last summer, Mr. Bannon bragged that Breitbart was “the platform for the alt-right,” a movement that upholds White Nationalism while strongly rejecting diversity in any form. Under Mr. Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart has referred to a leading Republican who opposed your election as a “Renegade Jew,” suggested “Young Muslims in the West are a ticking time bomb,” declared that the “Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage,” and praised the alt-right as a “smarter” version of “old-school racist skinheads.”
Disturbingly, leading white nationalists like former KKK Grand Dragon David Duke, American Nazi Party Chairman Rocky J. Suhadya, Richard Spencer, Peter Brimelow, and Brad Griffin have praised the news of Mr. Bannon’s appointment. We believe it should concern you that civil rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, are widely opposed to Mr. Bannon’s appointment.
We strongly believe that Mr. Bannon’s appointment will not allow the country to heal and come together as one. As one of your top advisors, the White House chief strategist will help set the tone for your administration. The person in this role must be prepared to serve the interests of all Americans, not those of a select few.
Once again, we strongly urge you to rescind this appointment immediately and build a diverse White House staff who are committed to the core American values of inclusiveness, diversity and tolerance.
Sincerely,
You can see the full list of signers in the link above.
When seeing that the letter had 170 signers, I immediately wondered who didn’t sign. There are 188 representatives in the House Democratic Caucus. Two of the signers--Madeleine Bordallo (Guam) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)—are non-voting delegates. So that leaves 20 Democrats who did not sign.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (MD-05) did not sign, but they had made statements of their own earlier. Pelosi’s is here, and Hoyer’s is here.
Excluding those two, here are the 18 non-signers:
Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Corrine Brown (FL-05)
Lois Capps (CA-24)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Alan Grayson (FL-09)
Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)
Dan Lipinski (IL-03)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Charlie Rangel (NY-13)
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)
Bobby Rush (IL-01)
David Scott (GA-13)
Brad Sherman (CA-30)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
Pete Visclosky (IN-01)
A good share of these are not returning to the next Congress: Ashford (defeated), Brown (redistricted out of her seat/lost primary), Capps (retiring), Grayson (retiring/failed Senate bid), Kirkpatrick (retiring/failed Senate bid), and Rangel (retiring). This does not excuse them because some retiring members did, in fact, sign (Jim McDermott of WA’s 7th and Patrick Murphy of FL’s 18th, for instance). But I see their decision not to join their colleagues here to be one of laziness more than anything else—checking out of the job a bit early.
So who are the returning non-signers then?
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Dan Lipinski (IL-03)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)
Bobby Rush (IL-01)
David Scott (GA-13)
Brad Sherman (CA-30)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
Pete Visclosky (IN-01)
If you live in one of their districts, it couldn’t hurt to give them a call.