A New York nonprofit has pledged to redirect nearly $60,000 in donations received from Donald Trump over the years to anti-bullying programs across the U.S.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit that fights anti-Semitism, will use the $56,000 it’s received from Trump and his foundation in the past decade to expand its No Place for Hate program, which helps schools in 10 regions increase their anti-bias and anti-bullying work.
{mosads}“In light of the recent campaign, we have decided to redirect the total amount of funds that he contributed to ADL over the years specifically into anti-bias education programs that address exactly the kind of stereotyping and scapegoating that have been injected into this political season,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the ADL CEO, in a press release.
The ADL is also calling on other groups to redirect funds given to them by Trump.
“We are taking this step to demonstrate that, even as the campaign has surfaced ugly rhetoric, we can reach higher,” Greenblatt said. “Even as his campaign has mainstreamed intolerance, we can push back on the hate and evoke our better angels not just with words, but with deeds.”
Trump has faced fire this campaign season for making questionable remarks about minorities and ethnic groups.
In the speech announcing his candidacy in June, he infamously referred to undocumented Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals.
“Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” Trump said.
Trump was also one of the leaders in the Obama birther movement, in which he called the president’s birth certificate a fraud and asserted he wasn’t eligible to serve as commander in chief.
Late last year, Trump called for a ban on Muslim travel to the U.S. following the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.