Mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida ‘Bans’ Donald Trump

Donald Trump Image by Getty Images
Looking for a Trump-free zone? You may want to consider St. Petersburg, Fla.
The city’s mayor, Rick Kriseman, a Jewish Democrat, has banned Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
The ban was in response to Trump’s controversial demand Monday that for “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
Kriseman tweeted: “I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps.”
The mayor later indicated that his ban was not for real.
“You make a ridiculous statement, so you answer with a ridiculous statement,” Kriseman said.
“There are some people who thought I was seriously going to ban Donald Trump from St. Petersburg, and that’s obviously not something I would try to do. But his statement was kind of ridiculous, so I thought that it deserved an equal response.”
Trump’s call was met with praise from his supporters but roundly condemned by U.S. Democrats and even abroad.
British Prime Minister David Cameron labeled Trump’s views “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong.”
I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps.
— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) December 8, 2015
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
