Carl Paladino, Donald Trump’s New York campaign chair, recently gave an interview to the New York Observer. The Observer, owned by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has endorsed Trump for president. During the interview, Paladino said:

In the mind of the average American, there is no doubt he is a Muslim. He is not a Christian.

The “average American.” To whom might Carl be referring? After all, this is the Carl Paladino, the man who sent out racist and sexually explicit emails, then blamed Democrats when said emails were made public. According to WNYMedia, Paladino allegedly emailed extremely racist memes, one of which used the word “n***er, and numerous emails containing hardcore pornography. You can see the emails here; some of them are very graphic, and most likely not safe for work or children.

Carl Paladino ran for governor of New York in 2010, backed by the Tea Party and the GOP. During his campaign, he said health care reform would kill more Americans than 9/11, he called his opponent an ass-kisser, and in 2008, said the only reason a public schools superintendent had been hired was because he was black.







Perhaps, to Paladino and Trump’s many other supporters, “average American” means white, racist, xenophobic, heterosexual, male, and Christian. Like Andrew Anglin, founder of The Daily Stormer, a white supremacist blog. Anglin supports Donald Trump; he endorsed him on his blog. David Duke supports Trump; he has not gone so far as to formally endorse him, but Duke asked his fans to vote for The Donald. Stormfront.org is filled with positive messages and support for Donald Trump, as is American Free Press.

Or maybe those average Americans are the nice folks featured in a new video from The New York Times. The Trump supporter who yelled “Fuck those dirty beaners.” Or the Trump supporter who bellowed “Fuck Islam” as he was removed from the rally by law enforcement. Or the Trump supporter who, when Trump spoke about President Obama dividing the country, cried out “Fuck that n***er!” All the Trump supporters chanting “Build that wall!”? Are those “average” Americans?

Are you an average American? Or are you a Trump American like Carl Paladino, who thinks President Obama is a Muslim, who thinks anyone with brown skin is bad or dangerous or a terrorist? What kind of American citizen are you? What do you believe, what do you support?

I am an average American, not a Trump American. I think Carl Paladino is a hateful, awful person, who, like much of the right-wing, is using fear of the other to terrify people into voting for Trump. Well, I am not afraid of “the other,” I never have been.

I am afraid of Donald Trump.