Donald Trump is now the leader of the Republican Party. It's real - he is one step away from the White House. Here's what else is real:
Trump has built his campaign on racism, sexism, and xenophobia. There's more enthusiasm for him among leaders of the KKK than leaders of the political party he now controls.
"I know which side I'm on, and I'm going to fight my heart out to make sure Donald Trump's toxic stew of hatred and insecurity never reaches the White House."
He incites supporters to violence, praises Putin, and, according to a columnist who recently interviewed him, is "cool with being called an authoritarian" and doesn't mind associations with history's worst dictators.
He attacks veterans like John McCain who were captured and puts our servicemembers at risk by cheerleading illegal torture. In a world with ISIS militants and leaders like North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Un conducting nuclear tests, he surrounds himself with a foreign policy team that has been called a "collection of charlatans," and puts out contradictory and nonsensical national security ideas one expert recently called "incoherent" and "truly bizarre."
What happens next will test the character for all of us - Republican, Democrat, and Independent. It will determine whether we move forward as one nation or splinter at the hands of one man's narcissism and divisiveness. I know which side I'm on, and I'm going to fight my heart out to make sure Donald Trump's toxic stew of hatred and insecurity never reaches the White House.
