John,
I’m sorry to drop into your inbox like this, but this demands a response:
It’s hard to overstate the cruelty of this comment.
Somali Americans build and serve across our country. They are part of our American fabric — our teachers, doctors, engineers, small business owners, neighbors. They pay taxes, raise families, coach soccer, and care for their communities just like everyone else.
But Trump doesn’t see people. He sees groups he can belittle to make himself feel bigger.
No one blames people who look like Trump for Bernie Madoff’s fraud. So why blame all Somali Americans for the fraud of a few?
Because Trump thinks people are trash. He’s just looking for an excuse to say it.
As a Muslim American, I know where this kind of rhetoric leads.
When powerful men decide whole communities are disposable, those communities face harassment, exclusion, and violence. We get treated as outsiders in our own country.
This kind of rhetoric doesn’t exist only in the Oval Office and on Truth Social. It shapes policy, fuels violence, and defines who feels safe in their own home.
Moments like this reveal the stakes of our work together. We either organize around our shared humanity, or we let fearmongers define who belongs in America.
Our campaign is building a coalition grounded in dignity, solidarity, and moral clarity. A coalition that won’t let would-be oligarchs who bankroll them decide who belongs and who doesn’t.
But Trump and his cronies see the momentum we’re generating here in Michigan, and they’re prepared to pour millions into this race to stop us before we gain any more ground. That’s why I’m asking:
Thank you for reading this. And thank you for believing, as I do, that America is strongest when all of us are seen.
In solidarity,
Abdul
