Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, said that slain civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be “proud” of what President Donald Trump has done for Blacks and Latinos in the U.S.
Bannon was the CEO of Trump’s presidential campaign. Trump gained supporters by
calling Mexicans rapists, committing to building a wall between Mexico and the U.S., allowing Black people to be physically assaulted at his rallies and lightly disavowing the support of white supremacists.
“Martin Luther King … he would be proud of what Donald Trump has done for [the] Black and Hispanic working class, okay” Bannon said on “This Week” Sunday.
Steve Bannon says Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “would be proud of what Donald Trump has done for black and Hispanic working class.”
@jonkarl: “I think there are a lot of civil rights leaders that would adamantly disagree with you on that.” https://t.co/k8LsdiiLHH pic.twitter.com/yjqm7SVq3E
ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)
June 17, 2018
On Sunday, King’s daughter, Bernice King, CEO of The King Center, re-tweeted a post from The Washington Post reporter Eugene Scott who referenced a similar claim Bannon had made previously. She included a response, simply stating: Absolutely not.”
In May, King tweeted:
#SteveBannon has dangerously and erroneously co-opted my father’s name, work and words.
Bannon’s assertion that my father,
#MLK, would be proud of Donald Trump wholly ignores Daddy’s commitment to people of all races, nationalities, etc. being treated with dignity and respect.
Be A King (@BerniceKing)
May 24, 2018
Bannon said in March at an event with far-right French politicians that they should “wear” accusations of racism “as a badge of honor.”
Let them call you racist. Let them call you xenophobes,” he said. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor. Because every day, we get stronger and they get weaker.”
Bannon said on Sunday that he was talking specifically about Donald Trump and his policies.”
His economic nationalism doesn’t care about your race, your religion, your gender, your sexual preference,” he said.
The Trump administration’s zero tolerance” immigration policy is currently separating children of undocumented immigrants from their mothers and fathers.
King tweeted on Sunday:
In the words of my father, to ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.” Separating children from their parents is beyond inhumane; it is evil. https://t.co/cGsdZA67qn
Be A King (@BerniceKing) June 18, 2018
