Kal Penn Hid A Secret Message To Trump In His Resignation Letter
From Tinseltown to the White House, Kal Penn has had a whirlwind of a career. Rising to prominence in the early 2000s with the "Harold and Kumar" series alongside John Cho, Penn's early acting career was riddled with vulgarity and political incorrectness. But beyond the stoner-comedy franchise, fans of Penn also got to bear witness to the actor's range through his role as Lawrence Kutner, M.D. in "House."
Although his career beginnings were drastically different from his modern, clean-cut persona, that ultimately didn't stop Penn's real-life rise to the Executive Mansion. In 2009, Penn shocked the world when he upended his successful acting career for a job in the White House under the Obama administration.
Initially departing from his first White House gig in 2011, Penn opined to ABC, "I don't know anyone who would say that the White House is particularly glamorous." He further added, "I think everyone has an understanding of the impact you can have, and the fact that ... that feeling is indescribable." Penn would return as the National Co-Chair of the Obama/Biden re-election campaign in 2012 and in 2013, former President Barack Obama appointed Penn to the Committee on the Arts and Humanities — a position he served until 2017.
Departing under former President Donald Trump's only reign, the Democratic Kal Penn left a secret message for the then-POTUS in his resignation letter, which eagle-eyed fans ultimately picked up on.
Kal Penn advised all to 'RESIST' in a sneaky way
Actor and former White House staffer Kal Penn has had a lengthy run at his two professions of choice. Initially giving up his acting career to serve under the Obama administration, Penn bounced between his two careers before giving the White House one last run from 2013 to 2017. Serving under both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Penn knew his political days were numbered as he departed under the administration of the latter.
Following the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, former President Trump lambasted the "egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence," though he also controversially chalked it up to "both sides," per Politico. After the incident, Penn and other staffers (many of whom were Obama-era holdovers), resigned. In his letter, Penn wrote, "Reproach and censure in the strongest possible terms are necessary following [Trump's] support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville."
Elsewhere, he added, "Elevating any group that threatens and discriminates on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, disability, orientation, background, or identity is un-American." He also noted that "Speaking truth to power is never easy" and notes "Ignoring [Trump's] hateful rhetoric would have made us complicit." Penn wrote in a final paragraph, "Supremacy, discrimination, and vitriol are not American values," and signed, "Thank you" alongside his departing cohorts. Looking closely at the first letters of each paragraph, Penn's letter spells out the word "RESIST."
Kal Penn wanted his White House tenure to be based on 'merit'
Despite ascertaining fame and success through Hollywood, Kal Penn did not want leverage his aforementioned intangibles into a White House career. In fact, Penn revealed that he initially applied for his first political gig online — which drew polarizing reactions from the Obamas.
In his memoir "You Can't Be Serious," Penn wrote (via The Hill) that he "didn't want people to perceive me as someone who was leveraging what modest artistic fame he had to get a serious job in the administration," adding, "if they were going to hire me, I wanted it to be on merit." Not hearing back for two months, Penn was "[bummed out] to know I wasn't qualified for a job in the incoming administration," though he "still felt so lucky for the creative career I was passionate about."
Upon hearing this, Michelle Obama "seemed almost... offended." Barack Obama, on the other hand, "seemed very amused" and asked Penn, "Why didn't you just call me?" It's certainly a good question, though another peculiar situation may have left Penn thankful he never phoned the former president.
In a November appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Penn revealed he almost accidentally invited Obama to a strip club after mishearing the term "topless bar" for "tapas bar." The actor ultimately came clean to his boss to avoid any potential media leaks, jokingly noting that headlines would read, "Kumar promises strip club experience... for White House staff."