Read Aaron Sorkin’s Moving Open Letter to His Daughter and Wife After Trump’s Win
Photo by Frazer Harrison/GettyIn an open letter published in Vanity Fair, Aaron Sorkin, Academy Award-winning screenwriter and creator of The West Wing, wrote to his wife and daughter about Donald Trump winning the presidential election and how to move forward.
“It’s hardly the first time my candidate didn’t win (in fact it’s the sixth time),” he writes. “But it is the first time that a thoroughly incompetent pig with dangerous ideas, a serious psychiatric disorder, no knowledge of the world and no curiosity to learn has.”
And Sorkin doesn’t mince words about the people who supported Trump, writing:
The Klan won last night. White nationalists. Sexists, racists and buffoons. Angry young white men who think rap music and Cinco de Mayo are a threat to their way of life (or are the reason for their way of life) have been given cause to celebrate.
But Sorkin remains resilient and positive for the future. “First of all,” he writes, “We remember that we’re not alone. A hundred million people in America and a billion more around the world feel exactly the same way we do.” Sorkin acknowledges that he and his family are in a privileged position, but he pushes his family to fight for those who aren’t so fortunate:
Our family is fairly insulated from the effects of a Trump presidency so we fight for the families that aren’t. We fight for a woman to keep her right to choose. We fight for the First Amendment and we fight mostly for equality—not for a guarantee of equal outcomes but for equal opportunities. We stand up.
While he doesn’t believe we’ll be dealing with Trump for long—”I don’t think this guy can make it a year without committing an impeachable crime”—Sorkin argues for not being complacent: “Your tears last night woke me up, and I’ll never go to sleep on you again.”
You can read Sorkin’s entire letter here.