'He's Making America Hate Again'
It was Hillary Clinton's night but Donald Trump weighed heavily on the minds of many on Day 2 of the Democratic convention – including two of Clinton's biggest celebrity supporters, Lena Dunham and America Ferrera, who opened a powerful joint speech with the words:
'Hi. I'm Lena Dunham, and according to Donald Trump, my body is probably, like, a 2.'
'And I'm America Ferrera, and according to Donald Trump, I'm probably a rapist.'
'But America, you're not Mexican,' Dunham pointed out.
'And President Obama isn't Kenyan, Lena, but that doesn't stop Donald,' Ferrera shot back.
'We know what you're all thinking,' Dunham told the crowd. 'Why should you care what some television celebrity has to say about politics?'
'And we feel the same way,' Ferrera continued. 'But he is the Republican nominee so we need to talk about it.'
'The unfunny fact is that this man would have you believe that our differences are more important than what unites us,'Dunham said.
'When we know that the truth is that this country was founded on the belief that what sets us apart – race, language, religion, sexual orientation – should not dissolve what binds us,' Ferrera finished.
'Which is why we are proud to say,' Dunham began – 'We're with Hillary,' the two actresses said in unison.
Ferrera, her voice rising and breaking, recalled her upbringing as the proud child of Honduran immigrants, who went to public schools. 'And you know what? Occasionally, I needed a free meal to get through the school day. Not everybody looks at the millions of young people like me – children born into struggling families, children born to immigrant parents, children who are immigrants themselves – not everybody looks at them and sees an investment.' But Hillary does, Ferrara said.
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Dunham then took over, telling the crowd, 'I am a pro-choice, feminist sexual assault survivor with a chronic reproductive illness. Donald Trump and his party think I should be punished for exercising my constitutional rights. His rhetoric about women takes us back to a time when we were meant to be beautiful and silent. Meanwhile, 22 years ago, Hillary Clinton declared that women's rights are human rights.'
Dunham went on to accuse Trump of 'trans-phobia, Islama-phoboia, xenophobia and systemic racism.'
'Look,' America said, 'Donald's not making America great again. He's making America hate again. And the vast majority of us, we cannot afford to see his vision of America come to be.'
'Luckily, we the voters carry the future of this country. We don't accept hatred as the norm in our communities. So why would we ever accept it in the Oval Office?' Dunham concluded to cheers from the crowd.
Both actresses have been vocal supporters of Clinton's candidacy throughout the election. In addition to stumping separately for Clinton on the campaign trail, Dunham and Ferrera also co-hosted a private event for the former secretary of state in Hollywood in March.
Dunham explained her support for Clinton in a January "travelogue" on her campaign experiences, writing, 'I believe that nothing will send a stronger message to America and the world at large than electing a competent, experienced, and brilliant woman to the highest office in the land. Our first female president would send a message that we are here. We are ready to lead. In fact, she has been leading all along.'
The Girls star and creator also lashed out at those who have accused her of supporting Clinton only because she was a woman, calling that assumption 'condescending at best and hideously misogynistic at worst.'
In the hours leading up to her speech on Tuesday, Dunham posted several photos from the convention on her Instagram – including a selfie with two Bernie Sanders delegates who are transgender, and a sneaky shot of Jerry Springer and a Clinton delegate.
Last week, Dunham posted a photo of herself with co-speaker Ferrera, captioning it: My soul sister @americaferrera and I are headed to the Democratic National Convention to speak as a team in support of @hillaryclinton. The honor! The thrill! We promise not to copy off Michelle Obama's homework, dreamy as she is #imwithher.