Actor and former White House staffer Kal Penn has had a lengthy run at his two professions of choice. Initially giving up his acting career to serve under the Obama administration, Penn bounced between his two careers before giving the White House one last run from 2013 to 2017. Serving under both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Penn knew his political days were numbered as he departed under the administration of the latter.
Following the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, former President Trump lambasted the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence,” though he also controversially chalked it up to “both sides,” per Politico. After the incident, Penn and other staffers (many of whom were Obama-era holdovers), resigned. In his letter, Penn wrote, “Reproach and censure in the strongest possible terms are necessary following [Trump’s] support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville.”
Elsewhere, he added, “Elevating any group that threatens and discriminates on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, disability, orientation, background, or identity is un-American.” He also noted that “Speaking truth to power is never easy” and notes “Ignoring [Trump’s] hateful rhetoric would have made us complicit.” Penn wrote in a final paragraph, “Supremacy, discrimination, and vitriol are not American values,” and signed, “Thank you” alongside his departing cohorts. Looking closely at the first letters of each paragraph, Penn’s letter spells out the word “RESIST.”
