NOW conference attendees demand Trump dump Breitbart adviser

Members of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women held their protest signs high and shouted their message as loud as they could Saturday.

“Donald Trump, it’s not too late — stop the anger, stop the hate,” chanted the more than 100 feminists attending NOW New York’s annual conference at Hofstra University in Hempstead.

A key part of that message was calling on President-elect Trump to reject and denounce Steve Bannon, a top pick for a strategic advising position in Trump’s administration. The group held a media event during the conference to voice their concerns.

“We demand that Mr. Trump show Steve Bannon the door,” said Sonia Ossorio, president of NOW’s New York State branch.

Bannon has drawn the ire of feminists and others for his political views and his prominence among the alt-right.

When he was chief of conservative media outlet Breitbart News, Bannon ran posts with headlines such as “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?” Bannon has also previously made offensive comments about African-Americans and Muslims and is part of the white nationalist movement.

The New York Times published a letter Friday from another group, 650 women from Harvard Business School, also urging Trump to dump Bannon.

“We know who Steve Bannon is and we reject his appointment to be senior adviser in the White House of this country,” Terry O’Neill, national NOW president, said as the crowd cheered Saturday. “We see you and we will never go along or normalize, we will never accept your agenda of hate and fear.”

A Trump representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nassau County Legis. Laura Curran (D-Baldwin) and Town of Hempstead councilwoman Viviana Russell also spoke and encouraged the group to continue its activism.

Curran said the political shifts that have taken place with the 2016 election cycle are an important opportunity for those seeking change. Russell asked the group to spread its message within their communities and spoke about her own experiences as the daughter of a Cuban father.

“We cannot afford to go back to a time when women did not have rights,” she said. “We have to continue to stand together.”