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Actor Kal Penn Calls Trump’s Travel Ban ‘Insulting’ And ‘Ridiculous,’ Raises Over $630K For Refugees

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 08:40 PST, Jan 30, 2017

Actor Kal Penn, most famous for his roles in the Harold and Kumar flicks and House TV series, has been throwing shade at Donald Trump and his controversial travel ban targeting refugees and Muslim-majority nations. According to Penn, Donald Trump has insulted him as an American and the immigration ban is “ridiculous.” Kal Penn said as much during an interview with Chris Cuomo of CNN.

“I think what the president is saying and doing is completely ridiculous. I find that insulting as an American citizen that you would infer that anybody who helped our soldiers stay alive are somehow bad dudes.”

The “bad dudes” reference made by the actor during his interview was a reference to a now-infamous tweet sent out by a defensive POTUS on Monday. A tweet that, as actor Kal Penn remarked, referred to Muslims who might have tried to get into the U.S. had Trump waited to enforce his travel ban.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAB1WLbRpM4

Donald Trump incited the outrage of not just actor Kal Penn but of people across the country and around the world after signing his executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations on Friday night. The order went into effect immediately, stranding immigrants, visitors, and even lawful green card holders at airports across America. It also spawned massive anti-Trump protests at airports across the country throughout the weekend.

Actor Kal Penn was on CNN to discuss his experience following the announcement of the controversial travel ban. According to Penn, he began being targeted by hateful abuse on Saturday. That was when the Kal Penn Instagram page was attacked by haters telling the actor that he “doesn’t belong in America” due to his heritage. As Penn remarked during his interview, the insults were fairly easy for him to weather. However, Kal was worried that others may be more susceptible to the negative effects of such senseless racially and religiously motivated cyber abuse.

“I’m a pretty privileged guy. What about the 14-year-old me or the kids who look like me who don’t have the luxury of this platform?”

In response to the hate-filled social media insults the actor found himself suddenly and inexplicably enduring, Kal Penn decided to “turn something hateful into love.” Inspired, he created a crowdfunding page to raise money for Syrian refugees in America.

This isn’t the first time Kal Penn has turned political. In 2009, the actor quit his fame-building House gig to take a job in the Obama administration. Penn, an avid Obama supporter, was handpicked to be a member of the White House Office of Public Liaison. Specifically, Kal Penn was tapped to interact with the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and the arts community under Obama.

As NBC News reports, Kal Penn’s fundraising page had a unique and poignant title: “Donating to Syrian Refugees in the name of the dude who said I don’t belong in America.”

“We are better than the hateful people who tell us we don’t belong in our own country, that America can’t be a beacon of freedom and hope for refugees from around the world. We will turn their bigotry, along with the President’s, into love.”

If nothing else, Kal Penn has proven that he’s a masterful fundraising guru. Since Saturday, the actor has collected over $630,000 to benefit the very people Donald Trump has deemed unworthy of crossing America’s hallowed borders. When his money-raising is all said and done, Kal Penn will be donating the funds to the International Rescue Committee, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping “people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster.”

Not a bad for a guy who was told just a few days ago that he doesn’t belong in America because of the color of his skin.

For the record, and for the haters, Kal Penn is an American citizen; the actor was born in New Jersey to Indian immigrant parents.

[Featured Image by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP Images]

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