'Matrix' Director Lilly Wachowski Rips Trump, Asks 'How Many More F***ing Bodies Have to Pile Up?'

Director Lilly Wachowski called upon Americans to brace themselves and prepare to mobilize in the event that President Donald Trump loses the 2020 presidential election and refuses to transfer the power of the executive branch peacefully.

Wachowski accused Trump and the GOP of violence in a personal essay published by Literary Hub last week and pointed to the thousands of U.S. citizens who have died of COVID-19, as well as those who have died as a result of violent clashes during protests and interactions with law enforcement officials.

"How many more f***ing bodies have to pile up?" the Matrix director asked. Wachowski said "violence is the core value of the GOP" and cited violence against Black and LGBTQ Americans as evidence, as well as that of "exposing voters to grueling lines in this pandemic."

"The truth is, if Trump 'wins' this election, I am having a difficult time imagining I am not going to be one of those bodies," Wachowski, a trans woman, wrote.

According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's late October projections, nearly 400,000 people were expected to die of COVID-19 in the U.S. by February 1, 2020. In her essay, Wachowski alluded to projections that the number of virus-related deaths in the U.S.—which were estimated to be about 231,000 the day before the election, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker—would likely double by the time of the next presidential inauguration on January 20, 2021.

"It is a staggering number," Wachowski wrote. "A crime against humanity. And is indicative that one way or another the violence of the GOP is going to come for us all."

Trump has been asked several times over the last few months whether he will commit to a peaceful transfer of power if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the election. Rather than agreeing to do so, Trump has repeatedly dodged the question, instead raising doubts about hypothetical election results that may declare Biden the winner and suggesting without evidence that a Biden victory might be the outcome of a fraudulent election.

Wachowski pointed to a few organizations that raised concerns about Trump's leadership throughout his time in office and identified Refuse Fascism, an organization specifically calling for Trump's removal, as one with a message she found particularly resonating. According to the Refuse Fascism website, the organization started "in our recognition that the Trump/Pence Regime poses a catastrophic danger to humanity and the planet, and that it is our responsibility to drive them from power through non-violent protests that grow every day until our demand is met."

The website also warns its followers that "Trump is already stealing the election" and provides posters and other preparation materials for those who plan to protest in the event that Trump wins the election or refuses to accept defeat.

Wachowski said she came to the realization after researching the organization's work that, instead of waiting for the election results, "We have to mobilize now, to take to the streets now, to pre-empt the rolling fascist coup that is taking place NOW."

"They posit that this regime will likely have to be forced out under the weight of mass-nonviolent protest in the streets," she wrote.

Though Wachowski warned of post-election protests and violence, she said it is not too late for an alternate reality to play out.

"We must come together and end this fanatically violent regime that imperils our lives and the Earth itself. We are the writers of this story and we get to decide how it's going to end," Wachowski wrote.

"So get out there and vote with all your f***ing might, rabidly protect your ballot with everything you got and I'll see you in the streets. The world will be watching to see what happens next."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.