On Wednesday evening, I was visiting what we call in the Southern vernacular: my beloved, chosen biological family, the people who are my roots, my sense of belonging, and who fulfill many of my most intimate human needs.
And, perhaps surprisingly, some of them are fervent fans of Donald Trump.
And as much as I love Trump supporters as if my life depended on it, and sometimes it literally did, I don’t love the beliefs they believe and hold to.
And on Wednesday, my heart ached to hear one of my loved ones express those beliefs and thoughts. I shivered, my body felt on fire. The words evoked deep anxiety within me in the aftermath of the recent debate, where President Joe Biden, a man of great integrity, failed to stand up to Trump, spewing a litany of unbridled, infuriating lies.
“The people who are pouring across our borders are less evolved than us. They are born with less intelligence. They have a criminal nature. They have no ability to respect the rule of law and order.”
“A man must be strong, not weak.” We talked about wanting boys and men to experience the full range of human emotions without shame or punishment. “It’s the law of the jungle, and if a man shows any weakness he’ll be eaten. China has a huge army of 2 million men. They don’t teach DEI. A good man must be ready to kill at any time, but he must know how to control that urge.”
And Trump supporters can act on those beliefs. One of my close friends arrived at her local mall to find a group of young black people sitting on the hoods of cars lounging and laughing. She went inside and reported to the security guard on duty that the black kids were lounging around threateningly and causing trouble. The security guard called the police.
I don’t necessarily expect all Trump supporters to believe, feel, act, or speak this way. I know that Donald Trump himself does. And this is important. And it’s why I’ve come to realize that my personal beliefs should no longer be kept to myself.
Therefore, I call on President Joe Biden to step down.
It’s time for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 election
Protecting our cherished rights and freedoms, and our moral imperative to make life better for the many, and for our bodies, cannot be left to voters who see Biden’s obvious limitations and fear the consequences, or who simply won’t vote now. We risk having a bad night and, at our greatest peril, ignore the warning signs.
You may criticize or be confused as to why I can continue to live with and love people who hold and act on the same harmful beliefs that Trump espouses. And, of course, I fully understand that they find my beliefs and positions just as offensive. I am humbled and grateful that they do not ostracize me from their family or allow our vast differences to diminish their love for me.
As Father Richard Rohr wrote, we live in a “complex reality.” I allow reality to be complex and tangled. And I have no desire to purify reality or my life. I trust reality, no matter how confusing it may be, no matter how painful it may be to embrace this complexity.
For me, my loved ones who are crazy about Donald Trump are issues I can’t compromise on. I can’t change them. I’ve tried to, but I’ve failed, and doing so has damaged our relationships and I’ve suffered enough losses in my life. I don’t want to, and I’m not going to, lose any more family members, especially over politics. For me, there are many issues with Donald Trump that I can’t compromise on, but it’s the cruelty of it that burns me after what I heard in that living room Wednesday night. That can’t be the future of America.
Ashley Judd:We have the power to help women and girls in crisis, why not?
We cannot put President Trump at risk.
“I feel immense sadness for the beliefs that Donald Trump holds and the beliefs that his supporters espouse. But that sadness pales in comparison to the heartache, devastation, and loss that millions of people will feel if Donald Trump is re-elected. He will wield the power of the presidency with unprecedented and unfathomable cruelty and unfairness.
Particularly disturbing is his distortion of Christianity, the force of Christian nationalism that is driving him, and the danger to anyone who deviates from it.
Biden? Harris?I don’t care. It’s all about stopping Trump and Project 2025.
I did not write this lightly, hastily, or for political convenience. My belief in what President Biden has accomplished for our country runs deep. My hopes for the next term are high. My investment is personal. I will bring my body, and I will show up. I am a Democrat who looks forward to traveling to Wisconsin to vote early, to deliver coffee and doughnuts at 6am to first-time voters who slept overnight on the sidewalk outside their polling places because they wanted the inauguration experience so badly.
There is a cost to being in public for me, and I’m sure many others if Trump is reelected. When I recited my poem “I’m a Mean Girl” at the 2017 Women’s March, I quoted Donald Trump. I was fired by a company I supported for saying it.
Trump said it. He won. I quoted him and lost a life-changing paycheck. This is the double standard for American women under Donald Trump — and all those who disagree with him.
And writing this essay has a cost to me: some, perhaps many, will despise me (and worse), but their anger toward me will pale in comparison to the harm that a second term of the Trump administration would surely bring to, say, our LGBTQ+ families.
With Donald Trump in power, speech is stifled and dissent punished. Speaking the truth about life in America can put your livelihood at risk. When a man raped me in 1998, I was able to get a safe, legal abortion from my home in Tennessee.
We already know that many states have banned abortions, and that 10 states have made rape and incest charges applicable without exception to teenage girls. This is the reality for girls and women under Donald Trump’s administration, and it must be a principle from which President Biden voluntarily and honorably chooses to step aside.
Voters really have the right to choose the Democratic candidate.
Much has been said and printed about the Biden Administration’s historic progress. Historic job creation. Visionary investments in America that will be felt by generations to come. I have deep gratitude and respect for him.
Similarly, much has been said and printed about what Donald Trump has done and will do. I have seen and heard.
My mother’s best friend, Dr. Maya Angelou, said, “When someone puts themselves out there, the first thing you do is believe them.” Donald Trump, I see you, and I believe you.
So the very real pain that millions would feel if Biden were to become president again should not delay Democrats in thanking President Biden and endorsing a talented and strong Democrat for our party’s nomination. We no longer have time for distractions or divisions within our party.
In Washington, some may want to wait until next week, the next press conference, the next network interview. Where I live in rural Tennessee, it’s clear that Americans have already made up their minds to oppose President Biden, in addition to the vast majority who want to vote for President Donald Trump.
My family, despite what you may think right now, are not bad people. They are faced with bad choices. We must give them a choice different from the Democrats for President of the United States.
Ashley Judd is a humanitarian, author, actor, and has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund since 2016.
