Many prominent Republicans politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, praised Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday’s holiday celebrating his birth, despite their tireless support of a president who used “race to pit Americans against each other.” That’s according to CNN’s Don Lemon, who unloaded on the GOP on Monday night for “empty tweets” like this one…
Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a giant of the Civil Rights Movement who called on our Nation to live up to the highest ideals of our founding. We pay tribute to the incredible life & accomplishments of Dr. King & his memory will inspire us for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/2jXe2Eshnv
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 18, 2021
“The Biden-Harris administration was elected to represent all Americans with more than 81 million people voting for them. But it was voters of color who put them over the finish line, even as the current president until Wednesday at noon, anyway, deliberately tried to divide us,” Lemon said.
“One Republican after another apparently hoping that you’ll forget their support for a president who used race to pit Americans against each other.”
– CNN's @DonLemon discusses "empty tweets quoting Dr. King's words" by Trump allies whose record are in conflict to MLK's legacy. pic.twitter.com/T2IPQeBghO
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) January 19, 2021
Lemon then noted that the Trump administration tried to disenfranchise “millions of Americans, many of them voters of color” with his fraudulent claims of election fraud. Lemon then went through a roll call of the bad tweets:
“Those Republicans like Mike Pence, putting out 50 tweets quoting Dr. King’s words, can you believe it? Like Mitch McConnell, who supported the president whose actions go against everything Dr. King stood for. Like Lindsey Graham, who allegedly called Georgia election officials to get them to throw out legal votes, including large numbers from Black voters. Ted Cruz, who even after the riot on Capitol Hill, still voted against certifying the electoral college vote. Ivanka Trump, who called the rioters American patriots, and then deleted the tweet. One Republican after another, apparently hoping that you’ll forget their support for a president who used race to pit Americans against each other.”
Lemon also shared a quote from Dr. King about “white people who just didn’t get it,” who “stood in the way” of making progress. “I quote here: ‘Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Luke warm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.’ You might want to read it. You might want to stop and pay special attention to this part,” he said. “Another quote. ‘The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love, for the preservation of justice or the extension of justice?’” Lemon concluded, “We know what kind of extremist Dr. King was. And what kind of extremist Donald Trump is. Donald Trump created an environment where white supremacists and conspiracy theorists overran the Capitol of the United States of America. He used race to divide us from the very beginning.”