The 45th President of the United States of America sent a saucy letter to SAG-AFTRA, The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, announcing his “immediate resignation” from the union.
The letter is addressed to Gabrielle Carteris, the president of SAG-AFTRA.
It begins, “I write to you today regarding the so-called Disciplinary Committee hearing aimed at revoking my union membership. Who cares!”
The President continues, “While I’m not familiar with your work, I’m very proud of my work on movies such as Home Alone 2, Zoolander and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; and television shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saturday Night Live, and of course, one of the most successful shows in television history, The Apprentice – to name just a few!”
“I’ve also greatly helped the cable news television business (said to be a dying platform with not much time left until I got involved in politics), and created thousands of jobs at networks such as MSDNC and Fake News CNN, among many others,” he stated.
President Trump then wrote, “Which brings me to your blatant attempt at free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union. Your organization has done little for its members, and nothing for me – besides collecting dues and promoting dangerous un-American policies and ideas – as evident by your massive unemployment rates and lawsuits from celebrated actors, who even recorded a video asking, ‘Why isn’t the union fighting for me?'”
“These, however, are policy failures. Your disciplinary failures are even more egregious. I no longer wish to be associated with your union,” he added.
The President concluded, “As such, this letter is to inform you of my immediate resignation from SAG-AFTRA. You have done nothing for me.”
The union announced after a special session in January that they “voted overwhelmingly to find probable cause of a violation of SAG-AFTRA’s Constitution by member Donald J. Trump.”
Following this vote they announced that a hearing would be held by SAG-AFTRA’s Disciplinary Committee and that “if found guilty by the committee, possible penalties include reprimand, censure, fines, suspension from the rights and privileges of membership, or expulsion from membership in SAG-AFTRA.”
As for what the violation was, SAG-AFTRA claims, “The board acted on charges initiated by National Executive Director David White at the request of President Gabrielle Carteris. The charges specifically cite Trump’s role in inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and in sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members. The charges request the imposition of the most severe penalty available to SAG-AFTRA: expulsion from membership. ”
President Donald Trump did not incite an attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In fact, the President stated, “I know your pain. I know you are hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt.”
He later added, “But we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You are very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace.”
https://youtu.be/aMeAE4GHmIE
On January 7th, President Trump condemned those who attacked the Capitol.
He stated, “The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engage in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay.”
Nevertheless, President Carteris issued a statement alongside the announcement of their vote. She said, “Donald Trump attacked the values that this union holds most sacred – democracy, truth, respect for our fellow Americans of all races and faiths, and the sanctity of the free press.”
Carteris added, “There’s a straight line from his wanton disregard for the truth to the attacks on journalists perpetrated by his followers.”
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White also stated, “Our most important role as a union is the protection of our members. The unfortunate truth is, this individual’s words and actions over the past four years have presented actual harm to our broadcast journalist members.”
He added, “The board’s resolution addresses this effort to undermine freedom of the press and reaffirms the principles on which our democratic society rests, and which we must all work to protect and preserve.”
In response to President Trump’s letter, White simply stated, “Thank you.”
What do you make of President Donald Trump’s letter resigning from SAG-AFTRA?