LOS ANGELES—Donald Trump, after having discipline charges filed against him by SAG-AFTRA for his role in the Capitol riots, has officially resigned from the organization. SAG-AFTRA responded in a brief statement:
“Thank you.”
Very brief.
Following the events of a mob of Trump supporters that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as part of an effort to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election win, SAG-AFTRA’s National Board voted to find probable cause of a violation of SAG-AFTRA’s Constitution by then President Trump for inciting the rioters, which would have led to a hearing and possible penalties against Trump, including fines and possible expulsion.
During the attack on the Capitol, many broadcast journalists were intimidated and harassed by rioters. SAG-AFTRA includes members that are broadcast journalists.
“Donald Trump attacked the values that this union holds most sacred – democracy, truth, respect for our fellow Americans of all races and faiths, and the sanctity of the free press,” said Gabrielle Carteris, president of SAG-AFTRA. “There’s a straight line from his wanton disregard for the truth to the attacks on journalists perpetrated by his followers.”
In his official resignation letter, Trump touts his work in movies like “Home Alone 2,” “Zoolander” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” as well as TV shows “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Saturday Night Live” and “The Apprentice,” which he hosted. He also boasted that he “greatly helped the cable news television business (said to be a dying platform with not much time left until I got involved in politics).”
He calls the disciplinary charges from SAG-AFTRA “free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union.”
As evident by their response, the union isn’t too broken up about Trump’s exit.
