Left image via Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com, right image via Wikimedia Commons
Martin Luther King Jr’s daughter Bernice King described Trump’s campaign ad containing imagery of the Christian minister and Jackie Robinson to be “beyond insulting.”
The ad titled Say What You Will About America showed images of Robinson—a baseball legend who broke the “color barrier” to play in the Major League Baseball in April 1947—and King, while touting American exceptionalism.
The ad also showed pictures of damages due to looting and burning flags. “We will never surrender America” and “don’t bet against us” the ad concluded.
King blasted Trump, saying, “I find president Trump’s use of my father’s image in his political ad beyond insulting and not reflective of #MLK’s commitment to creating the #BelovedCommunity. My father should not be used in ways strongly misaligned with his vision and value.”
She further explained that her father “was working for an America with leaders who have answered the call to conscience and compassionate action.” “We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity,” the tweet read.
Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, said the family was also insulted by the ad. “The Trump campaign is in opposition to all that Jackie Robinson stood for and believed in. We’re insulted and demand that his image be removed,” Sharon tweeted. “The families of the late Black icons aren’t having it.”
[via
NBC News, cover image via
Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com, right image via
Wikimedia Commons]