Local leaders expressed worry, concern and resolve in response to the surprise election of Donald J. Trump.
Mayor-elect Catherine Pugh said at news conference on Nov. 9, “No, I was never on his show. I also wish our president-elect the best, and that’s enough said about that.”
Baltimore City Mayor-elect, Catherine Pugh; U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings; Empowerment Temple Pastor, Jamal Bryant; Black Lives Matter Activist and current Baltimore City Schools Administrator. Deray McKesson; Leaders for a Beautiful Struggle Director of Public Policy, Dayvon Love. (AP Photos, and YouTube Screengrab)
Empowerment Temple Pastor, Jamal Bryant, based in Baltimore, tweeted “It’s not just shock that trump won …. but the reality that America has not really changed.”
Deray McKesson, Black Lives Matter Activist and current Baltimore City Schools Administrator first called for calm via Twitter, writing, “We won’t always agree. But we have to work to disagree without tearing each other down. There’s too much at stake. We need each other.”
Just a few minutes later McKesson pointed out the irony of those who appeared to feign sadness over Clinton’s loss to Trump – once the votes had been counted.
“I don’t know what to make of watching people who didn’t support Hillary and/ or actively worked against her now lament her loss” McKesson tweeted.
Leaders for a Beautiful Struggle Director of Public Policy, Dayvon Love, told the AFRO, “The election of Donald Trump should once and for all dispel the myth that seeking acceptance and integration into the American mainstream in this White supremacist society is a viable objective for Black people.”
U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings took the high ground and pledged to work with the new administration. “I congratulate President-elect Trump on winning the electoral college, and I thank Hillary Clinton for her decades of service to the American people. After enduring a difficult campaign season, now is the time for us to work together as a nation to find not just common ground, but higher ground,” he told the AFRO.
Maryland’s newest U.S. Senator, Chris Van Hollen’s expressed his concern over “the divisive campaign” Trump ran.
“I do believe that Donald Trump ran an incredibly divisive campaign, and it’s going to be essential that he reach out — not just in word, but in deed,” said Van Hollen at a news conference on Nov. 9.