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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Resolution Says Trump |Not Welcome in S.C.

(CN) - A lawmaker in South Carolina filed a House resolution on Monday declaring that Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump is a "xenophobic bigot" and not welcome in the state.

Rep. John King, a York County Democrat and chairman-elect of the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus, said the resolution is a response to Trump's appearance in Rock Hill, S.C., on Jan. 8, during which a Muslim woman was removed from the campaign event.

King said the incident physically sickened him, and afterward, he felt the need to stand up and do something about it.

In his resolution, King quotes Sen. Lindsey Graham, who dropped out of the Republican presidential contest last month, and who called Trump a "race-baiting, xenophobic bigot."

King believes most South Carolinians have never met a Muslim, and that all they know about them is what "they heard on Fox News."

Trump, the lawmaker says, plays on that skewed portrayal, stoking people's fears.

King says Rock Hill, the largest community in his district, has a long history of fighting racism and proudly displays its "No Room for Racism" motto on all city limit signs.

His resolution draws on that legacy, stating that "South Carolinians have tirelessly worked to overcome a history of hatred and bigotry" and as a result, there "is no place in this State for anyone who espouses hatred and bigotry as a campaign slogan."

He asks his fellow lawmakers to express their "collective disapproval" of Trump.

"Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much in South Carolina, but most of us agree that Donald Trump is an embarrassment to our country's political process and stands contrary to the beliefs of our Founding Fathers and the values of the United States Constitution." King said in a written statement.

"Why would we welcome someone to our great state when even our senior Republican U.S. senator agrees that Donald Trump is nothing more than a modern day George Wallace who preys on people's fears and prejudices," he continued.

" It's time to stand up to this big mouthed bigot once and for all," King said.

The lawmaker then compared the banning of Trump in the state to the removal, last summer, of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the statehouse.

"It's time to once again come together and tell yet another symbol of hatred and bigotry, Mr. Donald J. Trump, that he is no longer welcome in the great state of South Carolina," he said.

King said he expects the resolution to get bipartisan support.

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