The man behind the popular 'Humans of New York' series has published an open letter to Donald Trump, describing the presidential hopeful as "a man who has encouraged prejudice and violence in the pursuit of personal power".

Brandon Stanton has posted the letter on the HONY Facebook page, which normally features photographs of people Stanton encounters in the city, accompanied by their stories.

In the letter - which you can read in full below - Mr Stanton says he tries not be political on the page, having refused to conduct interviews with other presidential candidates.

However, he says that "I realize now that there is no correct time to oppose violence and prejudice. The time is always now. Because along with millions of Americans, I’ve come to realize that opposing you is no longer a political decision. It is a moral one".

He explains that "I have conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of Muslims, chosen at random, on the streets of Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. I’ve also interviewed hundreds of Syrian and Iraqi refugees across seven different countries. And I can confirm - the hateful one is you".

He adds that critics of Mr Trump will not allow the billionaire to rebrand himself to win over more supporters, suggesting "you are not a ‘unifier.’ You are not ‘presidential.’ You are not a ‘victim’ of the very anger that you’ve joyfully enflamed for months".

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An Open Letter to Donald Trump:Mr. Trump,I try my hardest not to be political. I’ve refused to interview several of... Posted by Humans of New York on Monday, 14 March 2016

The Humans of New York page has proven hugely popular with more than 17 million page 'likes', with two printed collections of the photographs and stories having been published so far. It has also led to similar pages for other cities around the world, including Humans of Dublin.

The open letter comes after Mr Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Chicago on Friday following scuffles between his supporters and protesters. He also defended himself after posting a hoax video on Twitter that accused a protester of having links to ISIS.

During the weekend, Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders referred to Trump as a 'pathological liar'.