Actress Ashley Judd joined a growing list of celebrities and high-profile Democrats who have called for President Biden to step aside, doing so by attacking former President Trump and her loved ones who plan to vote for him.
High profile individuals from George Clooney to elected Democratic lawmakers have called for Biden to stand down as questions about his mental fitness for the job dominate the national conversation. Judd penned a USA Today opinion piece bluntly headlined, "I'm calling on Biden to step aside. Beating Trump is too important," which featured harsh criticism of people in her family who support the former president.
"I love these Trump folks as if my life depended on it, and at times, it literally has. I do not love the beliefs they believe and cling to… as I listened to one of my dearest people share some of those beliefs and thoughts, it hurt. I was shaken. My body felt like it was on fire," Judd wrote.
"The words activated in me profound alarm in the aftermath of the recent debate at which President Joe Biden, a deeply decent man, was incapable of countering Trump, while he, unchecked, gushed a firehose of galling lies," she continued. "And so, I now ask President Joe Biden to step aside."
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Judd wrote that she realized she needed to speak out after one of her "closest people" informed mall security guards that a group of Black kids were "up to no good" and sitting on the hoods of cars in the parking lot, which she saw as an act of racism that Trump has normalized. She wrote, "I do not necessarily think all Trump supporters believe, feel, act and speak like this," but she believes Trump himself does.
"The defense of our cherished rights and freedoms, the moral imperative that we do better by more people, and our bodies, cannot be left to voters who see and are frightened of the consequences of President Biden’s obvious limitations, or who are now not going to vote. We take the risk of an off night and minimize the warning signs at our gravest peril," she wrote.
"You may judge me or be baffled by how and why I can continue to live with and love people who feel and act upon the same harmful beliefs that Trump espouses. And, of course, I wholly realize they feel my beliefs and positions are equally odious," Judd continued. "I am humbled and grateful they neither exile me from our family nor allow our significant differences to taint their love for me."
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She said pro-Trump rhetoric uttered by her family on Wednesday night pushed her over the edge. The "Kiss the Girls" actress said it’s not a "deal breaker" if her relatives support Trump, although she has tried to change them.
"I tried that, failed at that, damaged our relationships by trying that, and I have had enough loss in my life. I neither want to nor will I lose any more of my folks, especially over politics. My deal breakers with Donald Trump are many, but after listening Wednesday night in that living room, what is searing me is the cruelty. It cannot be America’s future," Judd wrote.
Judd declared that we "can’t risk a Trump presidency," claiming he would "would wield the power of the presidency with unprecedented, incalculable cruelty and unfairness."
"Especially disturbing is his distortion of Christianity, the force of Christian Nationalism advancing him, and the risks for anyone who diverges from that," she wrote.
"This is not something I wrote easily, quickly or for political convenience," Judd added. "My belief in what President Biden has done for our country runs deep. My hopes for the next term run high."
The actress boasted about her involvement with political activism and said she lost "a life-altering paycheck" for speaking out against Trump.
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"And writing this essay will cost me. Some, perhaps many, people will scorn me (and worse). Their outrage at me is insignificant compared to the harm that is assured under a second Trump term for, say, our LGBTQ+ families," Judd wrote.
"With Donald Trump in leadership, speech is chilled. Dissent is punished. Sharing your truth about your life in America can risk your livelihood. When a man raped me in 1998, I was able to have a safe, legal abortion that was accessible right where I live in Tennessee," she continued. "We already know many states ban abortions and 10 states have no exceptions for rape and incest, even for adolescent girls. This is reality for girls and women under Donald Trump and it must be the principle on which President Biden chooses to voluntarily, gracefully step aside."
Judd added that voters deserve a "real choice on the Democratic ticket," and urged the party to support another nominee.
"Here, where I sit in rural Tennessee, it is clear that Americans have already made up their minds against President Biden, on top of the majority who love to vote for Donald Trump," she wrote.
"My folks are not bad people, despite what you may now think of them. They are facing bad options," Judd wrote. "We must give them a different choice from our Democratic Party for president of the United States."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden and Trump campaigns for comment but did immediately receive a response.
