Calls for President Donald Trump's advisor Stephen Miller to resign from his position in the White House grew louder Wednesday as over 64,000 people had signed a petition demanding the White House aide's ouster by press time.
"We cannot allow white nationalists in the White House," the petition declares.
The signatures broke the 60,000 mark a day after dozens of civil rights groups signed a Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights letter demanding Miller be fired.
"Stephen Miller represents white supremacy, violent extremism, and hate―all ideologies that are antithetical to the fundamental values that guide our democracy," read the letter. "Allowing him to remain a White House advisor is a betrayal of our national ideals of justice, inclusion, and fairness.
Calls for Miller's resignation exploded last week after a Southern Poverty Law Center report on leaked emails from Miller to rightwing reporters exposed in print the White House aide's affection for white nationalist talking points and conspiracy theories.
According to HuffPost:
In the series of leaked emails, Miller supported white nationalism; complained about backlash over Confederate symbols after the 2015 mass shooting at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and promoted immigration policies once praised by Adolf Hitler.
SPLC reporter Michael Hayden said that in all 900 emails, he was "unable to find any examples of Miller writing sympathetically or even in neutral tones about any person who is nonwhite or foreign-born."
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As Common Dreams reported, the exposure of the emails led Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Omar) to begin a campaign on November 12 to force Miller from office.
Ocasio-Cortez ramped up her efforts on November 15, saying her movement was "not done with Stephen Miller."
"He's a verified white supremacist controlling U.S. immigration policy, which has now detained over 70,000 migrant children," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "This is not to be dismissed. People's lives are at risk."
We’re not done with Stephen Miller.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 15, 2019
He’s a verified White Supremacist controlling US immigration policy, which has now detained over 70,000 migrant children.
This is not to be dismissed. People’s lives are at risk.
He needs to go now.
We’re mobilizing: https://t.co/6Rs55PTTPx
Tuesday's Leadership Conference letter to Trump made the stakes of Miller's continued time in office clear.
"Unless and until you fire Stephen Miller—and all who promulgate bigotry—and abandon your administration's anti-civil rights agenda, you will continue to be responsible for the violence fueled by that hate," said the letter.
"Stephen Miller's racist, deadly agenda is contributing to this violence," the letter added, "and must be stopped."
