'Hate was given hope': Aaron Sorkin consoles his daughter in poignant letter

By Tracy Brown for the LA Times.

Donald Trump’s victory in the race to become the 45th president of the United States has provoked a wide range of reactions, particularly among Hillary Clinton supporters.

Much of Hollywood had thrown its support behind the Democratic presidential hopeful, and as celebrities publicly processed their feelings about the election outcome, many were emboldened to take action and keep fighting for what they believe in.

Academy- and Emmy-winning writer Aaron Sorkin went very public with his disappointment.

In a letter to his 15-year-old daughter, Roxy, the “West Wing” creator called the outcome “truly horrible.”

“Well the world changed late last night in a way I couldn’t protect us from,” Sorkin wrote in the letter, which Vanity Fair published. “That’s a terrible feeling for a father.”

He described the results not just as a victory for Trump, but also for “white nationalists,” adding that “hate was given hope.”

“For the next four years, the President of the United States, the same office held by Washington and Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, F.D.R., J.F.K. and Barack Obama, will be held by a man-boy who’ll spend his hours exacting Twitter vengeance against all who criticize him (and those numbers will be legion). We’ve embarrassed ourselves in front of our children and the world,” Sorkin wrote.

But Sorkin, who is not a stranger to penning inspiring monologues, urged his daughter to remember that many Americans shared their feelings of dismay.

“We’re not powerless and we’re not voiceless,” Sorkin continued. “We get involved. We do what we can to fight injustice anywhere we see it — whether it’s writing a check or rolling up our sleeves.

“Our family is fairly insulated from the effects of a Trump presidency so we fight for the families that aren’t. We fight for a woman to keep her right to choose. We fight for the First Amendment and we fight mostly for equality — not for a guarantee of equal outcomes but for equal opportunities. We stand up.”

Sorkin insisted that the future was worth fighting for and encouraged his daughter to stay hopeful.

“America didn’t stop being America last night and we didn’t stop being Americans and here’s the thing about Americans: Our darkest days have always — always — been followed by our finest hours.”

You can read the full letter here.