Open Letter: We Condemn President Trump’s Incitement of Violence

To our students and the wider HLS community,

We write to condemn a series of acts by President Trump that incite violence and are inconsistent with a democratic legal order.  On November 29th, the President circulated unverified videos that explicitly vilified members of a religious community as dangerous.  In his tweet, the videos appeared without any comment, context, or explanation, as if the fact that they concerned “Muslim” actors itself established their relevance.   In that way, the videos justified hostility towards individuals on the ground of their faith alone.  The President’s message further endorsed violence insofar as it expressly retweeted, thus apparently approving, a source convicted of religiously aggravated harassment.

On earlier occasions, President Trump has trivialized the use of excess force in policing and mocked if not licensed physical aggression against the media. When a candidate, he treated dismissively earlier boasts about sexual assault against women and encouraged crowd action against protesters. Such direct endorsement of abusive behavior breaches the minimum standards for public debate. We would add that the President’s recurring efforts to degrade individuals and groups fuel a culture that invites targeting and violence (e.g., here and here).

Political leaders have enormous power to shape the public narrative.  They inherit the legitimacy of their office, they draw on institutional structures that amplify their determinations, and they command unparalleled airtime and attention.   They have a corresponding duty to act responsibly for the welfare of the public.  We do not advocate constraints on speakers with particular, even reprehensible, views, but the obligation of a national leader to maintain the very conditions for open debate.  We take this occasion to disavow President Trump’s behavior as deeply damaging to our diverse democracy and the peaceful exchange for which we work as lawyers.