President of the Screen Actors Guild Gabrielle Carteris claims Donald Trump quit the union a day before it planned to hold a disciplinary vote, which could have resulted in expulsion of the businessman-turned-politician. "He clearly wanted to avoid that", Carteris told TMZ live.
However, the star of "Beverly Hills, 90210" did not exclude that the union will hold a vote in order to bar Trump from rejoining the union.
"My job is to protect our members and what happened on the sixth [of January] was just a culmination of a very long four years of actually a lot of inciting language. We had broadcast reporters, you know, members and non-members who were attacked, and it was all because of the language that was utilised", Carteris told TMZ live.
What Has Trump Been Accused of?
The union's National Board decided to re-evaluate Trump's membership following the storming of the Capitol by the Republican's supporters on 6 January. As a result of the incident five people – four civilians and one police officer – were killed. The Police Union said that 140 law enforcement officers were also injured in the riots.
On the day the Capitol siege occurred, Trump held a rally during which he accused the Democrats of rigging the 2020 presidential election. Critics of the president said he incited his supporters to take violent action.
"You are the people that built this nation", Trump told the rally. "You have to get your people to fight. And if they don't fight, we have to primary the hell out of the ones that don't fight. We primary them - we're going to let you know who they are".
The president said he bore no responsibility for the deadly riots and dismissed Democrats' decision to introduce an impeachment article against him as "ridiculous".
Following the incident, multiple organisations, including Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, distanced themselves or cut ties with Trump.
Trump's Resignation
On 4 February, the 74-year-old sent a letter to Gabrielle Carteris informing the union of his immediate resignation.
"I write to you today regarding the so-called Disciplinary hearing aimed at revoking my union membership. Who cares!", Trump wrote. "While I'm not familiar with you work, I'm very proud of my work on movies such as Home Alone 2, Zoolander, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps … and of course, one of the most successful shows in television history The Apprentice – to name just a few!"
Trump described the SAG-AFTRA's plans to hold a disciplinary hearing against him as a "blatant attempt at free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union". The former president claimed the organisation had done little for its members and "nothing" for him.
The union's response to the resignation read: "Thank you".