‘This man is unfit to be our President’: Hundreds protest outside Trump Tower
‘He called me a criminal, drug dealer and rapist’
Hundreds gathered today in front of Trump Tower in Midtown to protest against the President-elect Donald Trump.
Protesters were put in barricaded pens along the side of the road. On one side there were anti-Trump protesters and on the other some Trump supporters (not more than a dozen).
Shouts could be heard on either side of the street: “You lost! Go home!” and answers such as “Go back to school and get educated!”
The woman behind this sign went to the protest with her husband and children. She got yelled at by another woman on the street, here are some of their exchanges:
– “You’re a disgrace! Get a job!”
– “I have one!”
When the yelling woman heard the other speaking in a foreign language to her children:
– “We speak English in this country! Speak in English!”
– “I speak English and I can speak whatever language I want. Do you speak any other languages?”
– “I speak four languages! How many do YOU speak?”
– “I speak three!” (And then she gave her the middle finger.)
Jennifer and her mother
Jennifer: “I’m here today because of all of the hate speech that is going on. I’m not against Republicans, I’m just worried about the way his administration going to deal with social issues.”
Last time Jennifer’s mother protested was against the Vietnam War and today she says: “I want my voice to be heard! I don’t understand how Trump won. It seems impossible given the way he’s behaved. That is not the message I want my country to give.”
Ida (11), Julia (13), Lot (6), and their father
Julia says: “We want to use our First Amendment right to voice our opinion against the election and protest against Donald Trump and all that he stands for.”
Six-year-old Lot feels strongly about Trump and even made a sign to take to the protest, he says: “I hear Trump is a devil and I hate him! I like his buildings though, they’re fancy.”
Melanie
“I am deeply unhappy with the turn this country has taken. No one that he has appointed has calmed my fears! It is going to be a very unwelcoming presidency. They are sending us back to the Jim Crow era!”
On the future First Lady: “I don’t appreciate Melania Trump plagiarizing our First Lady. I think it’s funny that she says she is going to fight against bullying when her husband is King Bully. I don’t appreciate the lies that have been made up about her college degree.”
She adds: “I’ve seen a lot of slutshaming and I don’t think that’s right. She’s free to do whatever she wants (although one doesn’t really know how free she was and is). I don’t think slutshaming is the way to go but it is ridiculous to say that being a trophy wife is something admirable and a great advance for women.”
Ninfa
“This man is unfit to be our President. As a woman I am offended by his insults and his rhetoric to incite violence against women.
“At the international level he is volatile and crazy. He cannot handle a protest, how do you think he can handle international politics? As an immigrant from Mexico you cannot imagine how offended I am: he called me a criminal, drug dealer and rapist.”