An online marketer Wednesday defended his controversial decision to blackball Republicans and Donald Trump backers – asserting he cannot do business with supporters of "someone I believe to be a dictator."
In an interview on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," 1st in SEO owner Matthew Blanchfield of Albuquerque, N.M., said his stand is fueled by "moral principle."
"I don't believe that the majority of Trump voters are bad people," he said. "I believe that most people are probably ignorant of what the reality of their vote actually means."
But, he added: "I believe that the moral principle is so large in this particular situation that people who believe in what's right need to stand up – and ignorance of evil and ignorance of injustice is not a justification to be part of it.
"So anyone that supports Trump . . . [is] not welcome to do business in my company."
Blanchfield first announced his decision to cancel business with Trump supporters in a blog post two days after the election, the Daily Caller reported.
"America has elected Donald Trump, a racist, sexist, fascist, to be our next president," Blanchfield wrote, per the Daily Caller. "If you are a Republican, voted for Donald Trump or support Donald Trump, in any manner, you are not welcome at 1st in SEO, and we ask you to leave our firm . . . 1st in SEO will do everything in our power to ensure that we break ties with any person or business that supports fascism."
Since then, he has gotten death threats, he told Carlson.
"I've received probably 50 death threats," including against his children, he told Carlson. "My email has not stopped from people singing Hitler songs . . ."
"I work with Trump supporters; I interact with Trump supporters," he added. "As a citizen of the United States, I'm fully within my legal rights and within the state I live in, there's nothing illegal about me choosing not to do business with someone who supports someone I believe to be a dictator."
It is illegal for most businesses in the United States to discriminate on the basis of sex, religion, or race, but there are no federal laws barring discrimination based on political ideology.
The Daily Caller reported a handful of states, however, prohibit such discrimination; New Mexico isn't one of them.
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