Don Winslow: ‘We need to fight Trump, Ted Cruz and the other traitors’

Don Winslow has hit out at Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and ‘the other traitors’, as he called on Democrats to “reclaim the very idea of patriotism” in the US.

The celebrated crime novelist spoke about political activism and novel writing at the Santa Fe Literary Festival over the weekend.

“People put Trump’s face on the flag, a wannabe dictator’s face on the American flag, and then invaded the Capitol and called themselves patriots,” he said. “I’m not yielding it to them.”

Speaking about the biggest threats citizens face in the current climate, he added: “Now the threats come from the right wing. It’s the Proud Boys. Again, I don’t take it terribly seriously. Most of those people are physical as well as moral cowards. I can take care of myself, but I’m definitely more aware of my surroundings at events like this.”

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Winslow has attracted plenty of criticism from Trump supporters since the 2020 election when he began his campaign against the Trump agenda online.

The author wants the Democrats to “reclaim the very idea of patriotism”Getty images

The 68-year-old said that he is targeted online as a result of his political campaigning, saying: "We fight a lot of bot interference. People set up phoney accounts saying they’re me, saying terrible things about transgender people, women and people of colour.

“It makes me sick to my stomach. It really upsets me. But generally speaking we’re fighting Trump and the Trumpists, and the imitators. The Ted Cruzs, the Josh Hawleys, and those other traitors. You can quote me on that.”

Winslow also made it clear that he believes Joe Biden was the right choice to fight the 2020 election. “None of the other candidates would have won,” he says. “You needed that guy. You needed that middle of the road uncle, a decent human being, to win that election.”

He added: “History might record that Joe Biden saved democracy in the last election.”

Before giving up novel writing to focus on political activism, Winslow wrote the books The Force, Savages and The Cartel Trilogy.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.