Folks,

When President Trump said after Charlottesville that there were “very fine people on both sides,” he gave license and safe harbor for hate to white supremacists, Neo-Nazis and the KKK. Those words stunned the nation and shocked the world.

I said at the time that we were in a battle for the soul of this nation. I said it again when I announced my campaign for president. And I said it again today. We are in a battle for the soul of this nation. It’s why I’m running for president.

Charlottesville was no isolated incident. Trump announced he was running for president by calling Mexicans “rapists.” Days before the mid-terms, he fomented fears of a caravan heading to the United States -- creating hysteria -- saying, “look at what is marching up, that is an invasion…an invasion.”

How far is it from Trump’s saying that “is an invasion” to the shooter in El Paso declaring “this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas”?

Not far at all.

How far is it from the white supremacists and Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville -- Trump’s “very fine people” -- chanting “You will not replace us” -- to the shooter at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh saying Jews “were committing genocide to his people”?

Not far at all.

In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation.

His low-energy, vacant-eyed mouthing of the words written for him condemning white supremacists this week fooled no one.

He says guns are not the problem in these mass shootings -- that the issue is mental health. It’s a dodge. Hatred isn’t a mental health issue.

We have a problem with a rising tide of white supremacy in America.

And what has Trump done? Poured fuel on the fire.

He’s more concerned about losing their votes than beating back their hateful ideology.

But look -- I wish I could say this hate began with Donald Trump and will end with him. It didn’t and it won’t. American history isn’t a fairytale.

For 243 years, the battle for the soul of this nation has been a constant push-and-pull between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart.

The same document that promised to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” also allowed for slavery and included the so-called “Three-Fifths Compromise” that discounted the very humanity of black people in America.

The honest truth is both elements are part of the American character. At our best, the American ideal wins out. But it’s never a rout. It’s always a fight. And the battle is never finished.

So it’s up to us. We’re living through a rare moment in this nation’s history, where our president isn’t up to the moment; where our president lacks the moral authority to lead.

We are almost 330 million Americans who have to do what our president can’t. We must stand together. Stand against hate. Stand up for what -- at our best -- this nation believes. We believe in honesty. Decency. Treating everyone with dignity and respect. Giving everyone a fair shot. Leaving no one behind. Giving hate no safe harbor. Demonizing no one -- not the poor, the powerless, the immigrant, the other.

What this president doesn’t understand is that, unlike in nearly every other nation on earth, you can’t define an American by religion or ethnicity or tribe.

America is an idea.

It’s an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.

So look, we cannot -- and I will not -- let this man be reelected President of the United States. His incompetence, his amorality, his carnage stops with us -- right here, right now.

The core values of this nation…our standing in the world…our very democracy...everything that has made America, America is at stake.

Everyone knows who Donald Trump is.

We need to show them who we are. We choose hope over fear. Science over fiction. Unity over division. And yes -- truth over lies.

If we stand together, we will win the battle for the soul of this nation.

We are the United States of America. And there isn’t a single thing we can’t do. Thank you. And may God protect our troops.

Joe