THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS angry over Donald Trump’s election win took to the streets for a second straight night, with at least one demonstration degenerating into a riot against the tycoon turned president-elect.
Accusing Trump of racism, sexism and xenophobia, protesters from New York to Los Angeles blocked traffic and chanted slogans like “Not my president” and “We reject the president-elect.”
The worst violence was in the northwestern city of Portland, where protesters hurled projectiles at officers, vandalised businesses, smashed car windows and attacked drivers.
Donald Trump reacted to the protests on Twitter, first by saying that they “just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”
A few hours later, he changed his mind by saying “Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!”
Trump has also told The Washington Post, that following a meeting with President Barack Obama, he has decided to consider keeping Obamacare.
Irish outrage
Yesterday, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin gave an impassioned speech in the Seanad criticising the Irish government’s reaction to Trump’s election.
“Edmund Burke once said that ‘The only way evil can prosper is if good men do nothing’,” he began.
“America has just elected a fascist. And the best thing that good people in Ireland can do, is to ring him up, and to ask him, ‘Is it okay to bring over the bowl of shamrocks on St Patrick’s Day?’”
“I’m embarrassed to the Irish reaction of what’s happened in America. I can’t believe the reaction from An Taoiseach, and the government.”
“Can the government not understand what’s happening? We are at an ugly crossroad. What’s happening in Britain is appalling, what’s happening in Europe is appalling.
“…America, the most powerful country in the world has just elected a fascist and the best you can come out with is ‘well we have to talk about foreign direct investment’, ‘we have to be conscious about American investment in Ireland’.”
We need to call it for what it is, that we are doing nothing.
I am absolutely frightened for what’s happening to this world and what’s happening to our inability to stand up against it.
“I’d like to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs into house and ask him how we are to deal with this monster who has been elected president of America, because I don’t think any of us should look back at this period and say that we didn’t do everything in our power to call it out for what it is.”
With reporting from AFP
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