Dear President Trump, Sarrah Huckabee Sanders House Press Secretary and others,

On the night you were elected President, you promised to “bind the wounds of division” by devoting yourself to serving all Americans, regardless of their “races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs.” We were encouraged to hear those assurances.

U.S. Government—including its President—the domain of permissible civic discourse is not unlimited. The state cannot use its megaphone to express wanton hostility toward the very people it must represent on an equal footing.

That’s why your three recent anti-Muslim tweets are so troubling. On November 29, 2017, you retweeted three unverified videos uploaded by the leader of a far-right European extremist group. To your immediate audience of 44 million Twitter followers, which grew rapidly into a much wider global audience, you broadcast the following captions: “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!” “Muslim destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!” “Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!”

All three tweets explicitly drew a connection between the underlying acts and the religious identity of those who engaged in them. Your decision to retweet these messages carried a dark and unmistakable message: Muslims are to be feared; Islamic practices pose a danger to society; Muslims can never be truly equal citizens under the law.

Your promise to “be President for all Americans” is no mere rhetorical aspiration. It also has an important constitutional dimension. Whatever else your administration might seek to accomplish, it may not vilify members of a religious community on account of their theological convictions. Our constitutional tradition affords all Americans the right to pray as their conscience compels them without being besmirched and belittled by their government.  Full text of letter.˜

INSTITUTE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL ADVOCACY AND PROTECTION GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER