Singer Ricky Martin wrote a stinging editorial for Univision condemning Donald Trump as a “racist” and “xenophobic” presidential candidate.
“The fact that an individual like Donald Trump, a candidate for the presidency of the United States for the Republican party, has the audacity to continue to gratuitously harass the Latin community makes my blood boil,” Martin wrote, according to a translation posted on Billboard and confirmed by msnbc. “When did this character assume he could make comments that are racist, absurd, and above all incoherent and ignorant about us Latinos?”
Martin slammed Trump for his handling of Univision anchor Jorge Ramos at a press conference earlier this week, in which Ramos was escorted out for asking a question about immigration out of turn. Trump later invited Ramos to return and answered the journalist’s questions. Martin, who came out as gay in 2010, has become an outspoken advocate for gay rights in recent years.
“Enough is enough,” Martin declared of Trump. He’s not alone: New York Times columnist Charles Blow summed up his views on the Trump campaign with exactly the same words.
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Martin has previously tweeted his opposition to Trump’s immigration views, but in his editorial this week he called on Latinos to “defeat the power that Trump pretends to have over Latinos.”
“Let’s show that our Latin race is to be respected, let’s not allow a political hopeful to plant his campaign in insult and humiliation. Let’s demand respect for those first generations of Latinos who came to the United States and opened a path for us. We have fought for every right that we have today,” Martin wrote.
Martin is the latest Latino celebrity to condemn Trump, who kicked off his presidential campaign condemning some Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. A wide majority of Latinos have a negative view of Trump, according to a Gallup survey released this week.
Despite this, Trump swears he has a great relationship with the Mexican people (amongst others) and will win the Latino vote.
“I love them, they love me!” he has said.
Jane Timm