West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey Horvath is no fan of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and she's decided to make her disdain for the frontrunner known with a scathing op-ed published in the Advocate. Horvath penned the impassioned screed last week, along with an open letter to The Donald himself, as well as the 87 other mayors currently serving in Los Angeles County.
"I firmly believe it is the responsibility of those of us in leadership to use our words and actions wisely. That is why I took the opportunity to express how deeply disturbed I am by the Trump presidential campaign and to call out their destructive tactics," Horvath wrote. "The campaign has gone beyond its right to express a political point of view or policy differences, which we all have to greater or lesser degrees. The hate speech and implicit calls to violence coming from Trump and his campaign are beyond the pale and have no place in any community in our country."
Horvath then went so far as to imply that Trump would not be welcome in the notoriously progressive city barring a shift in the tenor of his campaign.
"I demand that you renounce calls to violence and consider the role you play in shaping public discourse, specifically with the words you choose and the behavior you exhibit and encourage," the mayor said.
Horvath's remarks are unlikely to persuade the blunt businessman, who has so far benefited from an image of toughness and a refusal to adhere to political correctness. But they signal a growing frustration on the part of many public officials and pundits who see his campaign as anathema to civil political discourse. In fact, several other mayors around the country have spoken in jest about banning Donald Trump from their cities. And last month, California Gov. Jerry Brown took a crack of his own, saying California would need to build a wall to protect itself if Donald Trump ever became president.
While most polls show Trump still leading the Republican field, he has taken a hit as of late thanks to several public missteps. He is expected to finish behind Republican candidate Ted Cruz in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary, but he continues to enjoy immense GOP popularity in later primary states like California.
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