A group of more than 450 writers, including Stephen King and Junot Diaz, signed a petition Tuesday “unequivocally” opposing Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy.
The iPetition against the presumptive GOP nominee, called “Writers on Trump,” also includes The Joy Luck Club author Amy Tan, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh author Michael Chabon and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove.
Here is the petition in full:
Because, as writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power;
Because we believe that any democracy worthy of the name rests on pluralism, welcomes principled disagreement and achieves consensus through reasoned debate;
Because American history, despite periods of nativism and bigotry, has from the first been a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not pitting them against one another;
Because the history of dictatorship is the history of manipulation and division, demagoguery and lies;
Because the search for justice is predicated on a respect for the truth;
Because we believe that knowledge, experience, flexibility and historical awareness are indispensable in a leader;
Because neither wealth nor celebrity qualifies anyone to speak for the United States, to lead its military, to maintain its alliances or to represent its people;
Because the rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response;
For all these reasons, we, the undersigned, as a matter of conscience, oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, the petition had 1,170 signatures. Its goal is to reach 10,000.
King came out strongly against Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in February, saying that he assumed Trump was running only to re-establish his personal brand.
“Trump leaves me speechless,” King told the Daily Beast months before his rivals dropped out of the race, leaving him the presumptive nominee. “When he came down that escalator to announce that he was going to run for president, I thought to myself that it was a smart joke, and it was a way of basically renewing his brand, refreshing himself in the press, and getting to the forefront.
“I figured he would run for a while, then drop out, and that would be the end of it.”
