13-Year-Old's Biting Response to Trump Supporter Makes Headlines

WINCHESTER, MA — An irritated Trump supporter's take on hate-free signs around town got the attention of a 13-year-old boy. Now the seventh-grade student's biting rebuttal is winning the attention of some big names around the country.

It started with John Natale's letter to local outlets, including Patch, expressing his displeasure with a number of signs around town stating "Hate has no home here." The signs, which started out in Chicago and are translated in several languages in its text, have sprouted up across the country in support of tolerance and unity.

"Your Hate sign is totally uncalled for because it says that Winchester has a hate problem," Natale wrote. "Where is it? It is offensive to imply that the rest of us — who don’t have a sign and who don’t think the way you think we should — are haters. That’s insulting."

Luke Macannuco seemed insulted, indeed. The seventh-grade student wrote a biting rebuttal, first published in the Winchester Star, to some of Natale's questions:

Natale: Who are the haters that you, the sign owner, are referring to?

Macannuco: "Bigots who are trying to take away protections for transgender students, deport refugees and build a very expensive wall to keep illegal immigrants out (which is completely pointless and not helping your cause, but I digress)."

What, or whom, do the haters hate?

"Perfectly innocent human beings who happen to be different from the haters."

What is the evidence there is significant hate in our community?

"Me getting called homosexual slurs by students and adults alike."

Obviously, you are so morally superior that you may declare everyone who disagrees with you as a hater! Where, when and how did you become the Lord High Decider of Morality? How self-righteous, how divisive!

"Never. We just put a lawn sign down. Calm down, dude."

• Read Natale's full letter here and Macannuco's full letter here.

Natale ended his letter by saying the signs "are self-righteous, exhibit snow-flake sensitivity and they achieve nothing."

Macannuco saved his retort for a zinging clincher of his own.

"Finally, if you are going to say signs exhibit 'snowflake sensitivity,' take a moment to think about how you are writing an angry letter to a newspaper about a lawn sign."

Enjoy the conversation? Get in on your local dialogue by subscribing to your Patch!

Macannuco's letter has already been retweeted by the likes of Chelsea Clinton, Andy Richter and actress Debra Messing (but not yet by his idol Stephen Colbert.) He didn't expect the support. And his parents didn't expect that level of poised maturity, despite his proclivity for speaking out in today's political climate.

"I was stunned," Shawn Macannuco, his mother, told Patch.

"Luke cannot stand the idea that the current leader is constantly thrilled to be stripping people of their basic human rights."

Luke — who has "always been a voice of reason" — has been speaking a bit louder now that his older brother went off to college.

That voice was met with some hostility from adults, of course. But his mother thinks it has value.

"All that does is verify he's right," she said.