‘Withdraw support for Mr. Trump’

We urge our leaders, especially Gov. Torres, who represents the people of the CNMI to the United States and to the world, to withdraw their endorsement of Mr. Trump, a presidential candidate who threatens the values we hold dear as islanders and American citizens, whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.

In the Northern Marianas, decent people of all political stripes were dismayed by the recent news that Gov. Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres and some other leaders in our government still maintain their support of Donald Trump for President of the United States.

By now we have all seen and heard the video in which Mr. Trump brags about groping women without their consent. He is also accused by multiple women of sexual assault, unwanted touching, or harassment.

Mr. Trump dismisses this vulgarities against women as “locker room banter.” And throughout his campaign, he has used sickening, demeaning, and divisive language to attack women, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, veterans, Gold Star parents, decorated war heroes, and anyone who disagrees with him.

He wants to wage a trade war with China—our nation’s main trading partner and, for the Northern Marianas, a critical tourism market.

He calls upon his supporters to engage in voter intimidation.

He actively seeks to undermine the confidence of the American people in their democratic electoral process.

He lies, constantly.

In any normal election, we expect that political parties and candidates will have differences of opinion about issues, policies, and the direction in which to lead the people they aspire to represent.

But this is no normal election.

It is not enough to weakly protest Mr. Trump’s indefensible words and actions—and yet continue to stand with him. Trump has countless times demonstrated that he lacks the character, experience, and temperament to hold office. He is unfit and unqualified to be President.

We urge our leaders, especially Gov. Torres, who represents the people of the CNMI to the United States and to the world, to withdraw their endorsement of Mr. Trump, a presidential candidate who threatens the values we hold dear as islanders and American citizens, whether we are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents.

We—all of us, regardless of political affiliation—must take a stand against Mr. Trump. Where he rallies fear, we stand for true leadership. Where he promotes bigotry, we stand for tolerance and respect. And where he stirs hate and violence, we stand for unity across our country.

We stand with Hillary Clinton. And we stand for our democracy. When our leaders and ordinary citizens stand together, we stand not only for ourselves, but also for our future generations
CNMI Democratic Party