Watch Everyday Americans Tell Donald Trump He Will Not Make the US Great Again

Impact

A new video from the EmergingUS campaign shows Americans from all walks of life offering some concise words to real estate billionaire Donald Trump. The message: Fear-mongering and bigotry won't make the United States great again.

The video's creator, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, told Mic that the project had two goals:

"First, to provide a space for people to directly address Donald Trump, particularly how harmful his rhetoric is," Vargas told Mic in an email. "In many ways, you can see how harmful, how painful, Trump's words are in the eyes of many people we spoke with.

Read more: This Shows Just Who Is Feeling the Need to Make America Great Again

The project's other goal was to promote Vargas' crowdfunding campaign #EmergingUS, which, according to the project's website, is a digital platform that aims to "power a new media that reflects America's diversity."

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While making the film, the crew found that many of the people they approached on the streets of Los Angeles expressed concerns that the candidate would "come after them." 

"People seemed genuinely afraid to address Trump directly," said Vargas.

Trump's campaign, Vargas surmised, is popular because of deep-seated anxieties Americans have about social and economic changes across the country — a point that's backed by recent survey results.

"Many people, particularly White Americans, are anxious and angry about the changes afoot, and they want someone — something — to blame, and they think it's us — the 'us' representing all that demographic and cultural changes," he said. "Trump has given a face and a voice to this anger and anxiety."

Watch the full video here: