Donald Trump kicked off the Martin Luther King Day Weekend with a confusing report about whether or not he would visit the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on Monday. Turns out he’s not, but that didn’t stop the president-elect from launching into a Twitter tirade against civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia) for claiming he wasn’t a “legitimate president” on Meet the Press. Needless to say, Trump’s already problematic public image felt the brunt of the media’s critiques throughout the weekend.
Maybe this is why the president-elect and his team chose to meet with none other than Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the civil rights activist, on Monday. Or at least that’s what Trump’s incoming communications director and press secretary appointee, Sean Spicer, claimed in a tweet that morning, saying “[Trump] will meet with Martin Luther King III to discuss his [father’s] legacy.”
Today we observe the birthday of #MartinLutherKing – @realDonaldTrump will meet with Martin Luther King III to discuss his legacy #MLKDAY
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 16, 2017
Aside from Spicer’s tweet, however, neither Trump and his transition team nor King and his representative have confirmed the reported meeting. What’s more, no other details are known about the alleged discussion other than Spicer’s acknowledgment of King’s father and the holiday that bears his name. Trump did tweet about King, Jr. about an hour after Spicer, telling his followers to “celebrate Martin Luther King Day and all of the many wonderful things that he stood for.” Which is rather weird considering the president-elect’s rant against former King associate Lewis days earlier.
Yet Trump’s reported meeting with King may not be as far-fetched as one may assume. On Friday, the community and human rights activist published an op-ed in the Washington Post about the need for new voter ID laws in the United States. “No one could have done more to call attention to the importance of maximum participation in the election than President Obama,” he writes, adding: “Fortunately, President-elect Trump agrees. Throughout the campaign, he consistently reminded the electorate that the system is broken.”
King advises the president-elect to “direct the Social Security Administration to add a photo to the Social Security card of any citizen who needs it,” a maneuver first proposed by fellow civil rights activist Andrew Young in 2014. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton supported the measure then, and as King goes on to argue, President Trump should do the same once he takes office. “Because Trump surely knows that if you build a hotel, you have to fill the rooms, I hope he also agrees that when you build a democracy,” he concludes, “you have to fill the voting booths.”
So as much as Trump and his team may be seeking greater public acknowledgment for their meeting with King on the holiday named for his father, perhaps the pair will actually use the opportunity to discuss another subject altogether.
(Via Politico and Washington Post)