Martin Luther King III Responds to Pence’s Trump-MLK Comparison, Calls Shutdown ‘Inhumane’

As the country honors the legacy of the late Martin Luther King Jr., Mike Pence chose to disgracefully cite King’s “I Have a Dream” speech while commending Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall.

During an appearance on CBS’ Face The Nation Sunday, Pence applauded Trump’s latest effort to reach an agreement with Democratic leadership and end the government shutdown. Pence was referring to Trump’s hardly-unifying proposal that would afford temporary DACA protections in exchange for border wall funding. However, the vice president, who serves in an administration that arguably contradicts everything MLK Jr. stood for, mentioned the late civil rights leader as someone who could inspire the two sides of the debate to come together.

“The hearts and minds of the American people today are thinking a lot about it being the weekend we are remembering the life and the work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Pence said. “One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was, ‘Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.’ You think of how he changed America; he inspired us to change through the legislative process.” He continued by shamefully comparing the work of MLK Jr. to that of the president. “That’s exactly what President Trump is calling on Congress to do.”

However, according to TMZ, Martin Luther King III, took issue with Pence’s tone-deaf comparison, explaining that his father would view the shutdown as “inhumane.” King explained that although he believes a border wall may be necessary, the hardship that has fallen on federal workers as a result of the stalemate is hardly justified. 

Two months after the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. visited the Berlin Wall and condemned the use of a physical barrier to divide individuals. He told a crowd of over 2,000 people, “For here on either side of the wall are God’s children and no man-made barrier can obliterate that fact.”