After an election cycle featuring praise for Donald Trump from the Klu Klux Klan and harsh criticism of him from the outgoing administration and dozens of celebrities, Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons dedicated a prayer to president-elect Donald Trump. Simmons took to the Huffington Post to point out a friendship with Trump spanning some 30 years, and he also noted how he was “vigorously campaigning” against Trump’s Presidential run.
“Donald, you cannot target a religious group of people,” Simmons wrote. “That is dangerous. You cannot separate families and deport people who have only known this country as their home. That is immoral. Donald, you cannot further militarize the police and empower them to antagonize and terrorize black communities.”
In addition to taking aim at Trump’s statements about Mexican immigrants and his proposed Muslim ban, Simmons took Trump to task about his views on climate change. The prayer, which Simmons says he wrote “as a yogi, not a priest” takes a decidedly different tone than his previous open letter, which Simmons posted via Global Grind in 2015. Simmons previously told Trump to “stop the bullshit” and “stop fueling fires of hate.”
Trump previously appeared alongside Simmons at the 2004 Hip-Hop Action Summit and the 2005 Art For Life Gala honoring Sean Combs (you can see a picture from the latter above). The pair also appeared at a 2004 “Vote Or Die” political art exhibition with Combs, Naomi Campbell, and Rev. Al Sharpton. You can read the full prayer, which also finds Simmons writing he is willing to work for and with his one-time friend, at huffingtonpost.com.
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