In a showing of solidarity with all marginalized people and calling for electors to reject Donald Trump, demonstrators gathered in Annapolis today as electoral college members convene in state capitols nationwide to decide the final outcome of the 2016 election.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - December 19, 2016 - Progressive Maryland sent a strong message today that Donald Trump is unfit for office as members of the Electoral College gathered in Annapolis and state capitals across the nation to officially select the next President of the United States.

 “Trump’s attitude towards women, Muslims, Hispanic immigrants, the press and the United States Constitution remains as despicable as it was throughout the campaign,” said Eve Hurwitz, Anne Arundel County Coordinator for Progressive Maryland. “As a veteran, I am especially concerned about his stated intentions regarding the military that clearly violate our policies. His values are not Maryland values, and we will fight any effort to place him in the White House.”

 Progressive Maryland members gathered in Annapolis, where Maryland’s 10 electors convened today, joining a nationwide action of similar protests in 49 other state capitals and Washington, D.C. coordinated by a coalition of groups including Democracy Spring, Americans Take Action, Electoral College Petition and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in a collective call for the Electoral College to serve its role as the final firewall in the American republic to block a singularly unfit president such as Trump.

 “Beyond his un-American views, since being declared the winner of the election, Donald Trump has made a routine habit of skipping intelligence briefings, shown resistance to disengaging himself from his business interests which pose a clear conflict of interest, and filled his proposed cabinet with a nihilist gallery of figures opposed to the very mission of the departments they would lead,” said Progressive Maryland Executive Director Larry Stafford. “This man is a threat to the security of our nation, the rights of its people, and its democratic traditions.”

 In light of the emerging consensus within the American intelligence community that the Russian government not only influenced the 2016 presidential election through hacking efforts, but they did so with the specific goal of aiding Donald Trump’s election, Progressive Maryland also urged the government to provide an intelligence briefing to the nation’s 538 electors as they make a choice that will echo well beyond the next four years.

 In the event that the Electoral College ignores the call from Progressive Maryland and its nationwide allies to block Trump’s ultimate election, the group vows to carry on the fight against the would-be president’s agenda. Progressive Maryland is committed to defending the rule of law, the natural environment and those whose rights, livelihood and well-being would be threatened by the policies of Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill and in Maryland’s Government House.