WATCH: George Takei on 75th Anniversary of Internment Camps and Why Trump Could Be Repeating History

By Kenrya Rankin Feb 20, 2017

Yesterday (February 19), marked the 75th anniversary of the day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order that imprisoned 120,000 people of Japanese descent in internment camps. President Donald Trump and his supporters have referenced that executive order as justification for proposed policies regarding Muslims, including registries.

Juan González of Democracy Now! interviewed Japanese-American actor and activist George Takei today (February 20) to talk about the four years his family lived in a camp, the lessons the nation should have learned from the past and why he thinks the future is in peril with Trump in the White House.

Juan González: And talk about your decision—I mean, you’ve been very much of an activist much of your life, but your stance now in terms of what’s going on with the Trump Administration and why you feel it’s so important to speak up now?

George Takei: Well, on so many issues, not just the Muslim travel ban, but issue after issue has been a failure. But this president is delusional. He just made that statement last week that his administration is operating like a finely tuned machine. He doesn’t realize the disaster that his administration is, the failure of the attack in Yemen and the series of failures that he’s—he is a danger. You know, the real terrorist is Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the terrorist president of the United States. And his rating is going down, down, down, and he still talks about the “fantastic” support that he’s been getting. We are going through an incredible time in American history.

Watch the full interview above.