“ I can no longer remain silent "

 

 

Lynne Patton had had enough, so she decided to lay out exactly what she thought about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Patton, who is black, shared her judgments in a letter she read on a YouTube video, which has more than 127,000 views.

“I can no longer remain silent about the repeated and reprehensible attempts to align my boss and his family with racist hate-mongering groups, campaigns and messaging,” wrote Patton, director of the Eric Trump Foundation and assistant to Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. She said the video was not part of her employment but was triggered by the reaction Trump has received during his campaign.

“To the skeptics who will undoubtedly claim that I am doing this at the behest of the Trump family or with the promise of reward, I deliberately chose not to seek their approval nor council in advance to this video for fear that there would be more concern for me and its potential viral ramifications than they would be for themselves and the fact that quite simply this is the right thing to do,” said Patton, who posted the video on YouTube and has been flooded with comments on Twitter.

“The Trump family that I know is, without question, one of the most generous, compassionate and philanthropic families I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing and the honor to call friends,” she said. “They have been incredibly loyal to me and to the countless dedicated people they employ around the world – hiring more minority and female executives than any other company for which I’ve ever worked.”

Patton defended Trump’s policies for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. and the construction of a wall with Mexico.

“To equate racism with my boss’ call for a temporary moratorium on a flawed immigration system that radical Islamic terrorists continue to exploit, or the construction of an impassible wall to protect our borders from the influx of illegal drugs, is not only incendiary, it’s wholly irresponsible and only serves to embolden the very hatred these draconian groups espouse,” she wrote, later criticizing “paid protesters” who target Trump.

“This isn’t just a race to Mr. Trump. This isn’t just a race to his family nor to our veterans or the unemployed, and because of that this family is willing to risk their own lives each and every day for the greater good of this country,” she said.

“God bless his family, God bless the voters and God bless the United States of America,” Patton said in conclusion.