Democratic House members petition Trump to dump Bannon appointment

More than 160 Democratic members of the House of Representatives have signed a letter urging President-elect Donald J. Trump to withdraw the appointment of former Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon to a key White House post.

Led by Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline, the letter was signed by the entire delegations of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reported. The group comprised nearly all of the 188 House Democrats.

In the letter, which was delivered to Trump Tower in Manhattan Wednesday, legislators say Bannon’s appointment as chief strategist will only serve to highlight divisions on the basis of race and religion.

“Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump Administration and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns,” the letter states.

It went on to say that during his time as chairman of the alt-right news service, Bannon “repeatedly and aggressively pushed stories that promoted anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism.”

The legislators urged Trump to immediately rescind Bannon’s appointment to “build a diverse White House staff who are committed to the core American values of inclusiveness, diversity and tolerance.”

The full list of signers as reported by the Boston Globe is included below:

David N. Cicilline (RI-1)

Alma Adams (NC-12)

Pete Aguilar (CA-31)

Karen Bass (CA-37)

Joyce Beatty (OH-3)

Xavier Becerra (CA-34)

Ami Bera (CA-7)

Donald Beyer (VA-8)

Sanford Bishop (GA-2)

Earl Blumenauer (OR-3)

Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1)

Madeleine Bordallo (Guam)

Brendan Boyle (PA-13)

Robert Brady (PA-1)

Julia Brownley (CA-26)

Cheri Bustos (IL-17)

G.K. Butterfield (NC-1)

Michael Capuano (MA-7)

Tony Cardenas (CA-29)

John Carney (DE-At large)

Andre Carson (IN-7)

Matt Cartwright (PA-17)

Kathy Castor (FL-14)

Joaquin Castro (TX-20)

Judy Chu (CA-27)

Katherine Clark (MA-5)

Yvette Clarke (NY-9)

William Lacy Clay (MO-1)

Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5)

James Clyburn (SC-6)

Steve Cohen (TN-9)

Gerald Connolly (VA-11)

John Conyers (MI-13)

Jim Cooper (TN-5)

Joe Courtney (CT-2)

Joseph Crowley (NY-14)

Elijah Cummings (MD-7)

Danny Davis (IL-7)

Susan Davis (CA-53)

Peter DeFazio (OR-4)

Diana DeGette (CO-1)

John Delaney (MD-6)

Rosa DeLauro (CT-3)

Suzan DelBene (WA-1)

Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11)

Ted Deutch (FL-21)

Debbie Dingell (MI-12)

Lloyd Doggett (TX-35)

Michael Doyle (PA-14)

Tammy Duckworth (IL-8)

Donna Edwards (MD-4)

Keith Ellison (MN-5)

Eliot Engel (NY-16)

Anna Eshoo (CA-18)

Elizabeth Esty (CT-5)

Dwight Evans (PA-2)

Sam Farr (CA-20)

Bill Foster (IL-11)

Lois Frankel (FL-22)

Marcia Fudge (OH-11)

Ruben Gallego (AZ-7)

John Garamendi (CA-3)

Gwen Graham (FL-2)

Al Green (TX-9)

Gene Green (TX-29)

Raul Grijalva (AZ-3)

Luis Gutierrez (IL-4)

Janice Hahn (CA-44)

Colleen Hanabusa (HI-1)

Alcee Hastings (FL-20)

Denny Heck (WA-10)

Brian Higgins (NY-26)

James Himes (CT-4)

Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)

Michael Honda (CA-17)

Jared Huffman (CA-2)

Steve Israel (NY-3)

Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8)

Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)

Hank Johnson (GA-4)

Marcy Kaptur (OH-9)

William Keating (MA-9)

Robin Kelly (IL-2)

Joseph Kennedy (MA-4)

Dan Kildee (MI-5)

Derek Kilmer (WA-6)

Ron Kind (WI-3)

Ann Marie Kuster (NH-2)

James Langevin (RI-2)

Rick Larsen (WA-2)

John Larson (CT-1)

Brenda Lawrence (MI-14)

Barbara Lee (CA-13)

Sander Levin (MI-9)

John Lewis (GA-5)

Ted Lieu (CA-33)

Dave Loebsack (IA-2)

Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)

Alan Lowenthal (CA-47)

Nita Lowey (NY-17)

Ben Ray Lujan (NM-3)

Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-1)

Stephen Lynch (MA-8)

Carolyn Maloney (NY-12)

Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18)

Doris Matsui (CA-6)

Betty McCollum (MN-4)

Jim McDermott (WA-7)

James McGovern (MA-2)

Jerry McNerney (CA-9)

Gregory Meeks (NY-5)

Grace Meng (NY-6)

Gwen Moore (WI-4)

Seth Moulton (MA-6)

Patrick Murphy (FL-18)

Jerrold Nadler (NY-10)

Grace Napolitano (CA-32)

Richard Neal (MA-1)

Richard Nolan (MN-8)

Donald Norcross (NJ-1)

Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)

Beto O’Rourke (TX-16)

Frank Pallone (NJ-6)

Bill Pascrell (NJ-9)

Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10)

Ed Perlmutter (CO-7)

Scott Peters (CA-52)

Chellie Pingree (ME-1)

Mark Pocan (WI-2)

Jared Polis (CO-2)

David Price (NC-4)

Mike Quigley (IL-5)

Kathleen Rice (NY-4)

Cedric Richmond (LA-2)

Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40)

Raul Ruiz (CA-36)

Tim Ryan (OH-13)

Linda Sanchez (CA-38)

John Sarbanes (MD-3)

Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)

Adam Schiff (CA-28)

Kurt Schrader (OR-5)

Bobby Scott (VA-3)

Jose Serrano (NY-15)

Terri Sewell (AL-7)

Albio Sires (NJ-8)

Louise McIntosh Slaughter (NY-25)

Adam Smith (WA-9)

Jackie Speier (CA-14)

Eric Swalwell (CA-15)

Mark Takano (CA-41)

Bennie Thompson (MS-2)

Mike Thompson (CA-5)

Dina Titus (NV-1)

Paul Tonko (NY-20)

Norma Torres (CA-35)

Niki Tsongas (MA-3)

Chris Van Hollen (MD-8)

Juan Vargas (CA-51)

Marc Veasey (TX-33)

Nydia Velazquez (NY-7)

Timothy Walz (MN-1)

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)

Maxine Waters (CA-43)

Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)

Peter Welch (VT-At large)

Frederica Wilson (FL-24)

John Yarmuth (KY-3)