NOW Calls on New York Candidates to Reject Donald Trump and His Misogyny
Organizes Protest Outside of Trump Tower
October 26, 2016 – New York, NY – Today, NOW New York and its members and supporters will protest outside of Trump Tower to call on voters to reject Trump and those Republicans that continue to stand with him. Two weeks after organizing a protest across from the Trump International Hotel to repudiate Donald Trump for diminishing the seriousness of sexual assault and for his long record of woman-hating rhetoric, NOW New York is calling on Republican candidates across the state to unequivocally reject Trump.
In the last two weeks the public has seen leaked footage of Trump bragging about sexual assault, heard Miss Teen USA pageant contestants describe how Trump entered their dressing room while they were changing, and learned the stories of several women who were aggressively groped or kissed by Trump against their will and without consent.
NOW New York President Sonia Ossorio says, “It’s long overdue that we call out those Republican lawmakers and candidates who are still with Donald Trump. With his litany of hateful rhetoric against women, Mexican people, immigrants, Muslims and others, the G.O.P. should have dumped Trump long ago.”
NOW New York is asking why these Republicans have failed to reject Trump:
Congressman Lee Zeldin, 1st Congressional District, Suffolk County
State Senator Jack Martins, candidate for 3rd Congressional District, Suffolk County
Congressman John Faso, candidate for 19th Congressional District, Hudson Valley
State Senator Elaine Phillips, candidate for 7th State Senate District, Nassau County
State Senator Terrence Murphy, 40th State Senate District,Westchstr/Putnm/
State Senator Sue Serino, 41st State Senate District, Dutchess/Putnam
Mr. Christopher Jacobs, candidate for 60th State Senate District
Statement of Sonia Ossorio, President, NOW New York
The pressure is on for Republicans, because women are watching. Sexual assault and sexual harassment are issues that cross the political divide, and women want to know that their representatives will draw a line against the normalized sexual violence and virulent disrespect for women that Trump promotes.
Criticizing Trump’s words or actions, while maintaining tacit support for his candidacy, is hypocritical. Trump’s record and rhetoric are so vile, so sexist, and so far below any level of civility or decency that anything less than clear opposition translates into support for the sexism and intolerance that Trump represents.
Women and activists have been fighting to end violence against women for decades, but having a candidate for the highest office brag about sexual assault puts this issue on the national stage in an entirely new light. Not one woman can push this story aside. Women are feeling liberated from the silence, shame and stigma of sexual assault. Women are galvanized, we are energized, and we are going speak out with our voices, and most importantly, our votes.
For further inquiries, contact Jean Bucaria: [email protected] | 212.627.9895
NOW-NYC advocates for the women and girls of New York City, by working to promote women’s reproductive rights, secure women’s economic empowerment, and end violence and discrimination against women.
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