Aziz Ansari pens op-ed saying what we all wish we could say to Donald Trump

Comedian Aziz Ansari has written a scathing op-ed for The New York Times about Donald Trump and the racist fears the presidential candidates incites about Muslims.

“Today, with the presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and others like him spewing hate speech, prejudice is reaching new levels,” Ansari writes. “It’s visceral, and scary, and it affects how people live, work and pray. It makes me afraid for my family. It also makes no sense.”

Ansari describes how he texted his mother, who is Muslim, to avoid going to the mosque after the Orlando shooting that left 49 people dead and dozens more injured.

“The overwhelming number of Muslim Americans have as much in common with that monster in Orlando as any white person has with any of the white terrorists who shoot up movie theaters or schools or abortion clinics,” Ansari writes.

The Master of None creator and star writes that he was a called “terrorist” by someone in a car in New York shortly after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. And Trump’s “vitriolic and hate-filled rhetoric coming from Mr. Trump isn’t so far off from cursing at strangers from a car window.”

Additionally, Ansari, who was a student at NYU on 9/11, refutes Trump’s claim that “thousands” of Muslims were celebrating in New Jersey after the attacks. “There was absolutely no cheering. Only sadness, horror and fear.”

Ansari writes that the way to prevent attacks such as Orlando is “keep military-grade weaponry out of the hands of mentally unstable people, those with a history of violence, and those on F.B.I. watch lists.”

Meanwhile, Trump on Saturday (slightly) backtracked on his call for a ban on Muslim immigrants, saying he would restrict Muslims from terrorist states.

Prior to Trump’s comments, Ansari summed up his thoughts on the op-ed and Trump in one tweet.