In an angry op-ed written Wednesday night, Ricky Martin accuses Donald Trump of being “xenophobic” and harassing the Latino community.
“The fact that a person like Donald Trump, a candidate for the U.S. presidency for the Republican Party, has the gall to continue to freely harass the Latino community day after day makes my blood boil,” the 43-year-old singer wrote. “From the beginning, [Trump’s] intent has been clear: To basically tell lies and offend us to stay in the public spotlight.”
“I am not surprised Trump would aim so low. I am surprised that we Hispanics continue to accept these aggressions and accusations by individuals like Trump who continue to attack our dignity.”
“We have to stop the power that Trump feels he has over Latinos, and the xenophobic speech that he and his campaign team seem to be convinced will be successful.” (RELATED: George Lopez Attacks Trump)
(Photo: Getty Images)
In a post also published on Univision’s website, Martin brought up Tuesday’s incident where security removed Jorge Ramos from a Trump press conference after he interrupted the presidential candidate. Martin said Ramos is one of the “most admired and respected journalists in Hispanic media.”
“Jorge Ramos was doing his job as a journalist in a press conference, which he attended representing one of the world’s most important television networks for Hispanics and exercising his right of freedom of the press. Yet, Trump verbally assaulted and removed Jorge from the event without any apparent reason.”
“Let’s prove that Latinos must be respected. Let’s not tolerate any politician using insults in the campaign. Let’s respect those first-generation Latinos that arrived in the U.S. and opened a path for all of us. Each right that we have today, we have fought for.” (VIDEO: George Lopez On Donald Trump: ‘There Are Enough Racists In This Country For Him To Get Elected’)
In 2012, Martin did an ad urging voters to reelect Barack Obama because he was “committed” to the Latino community.