Via Billy
After a meeting with
Donald Trump,
Martin Luther King III
said Monday that he believed the president-elect intended to represent
all Americans but that champions of the country’s poor and marginalized
communities must keep up the pressure on government.
“Certainly he
said that he is going to represent Americans. He’s said that over and
over again. We will continue to evaluate that,”
Mr. King,
the oldest son and oldest living child of civil rights leader the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr., told reporters at Trump Tower in New York.
“I believe that’s his intent,”
Mr. King said of
Mr. Trump.
“I believe we have to consistently engage with pressure, public
pressure. It doesn’t happen automatically. My father and his team
understood that, did that.”
Mr. Trump met with
Mr. King to discuss his father’s legacy on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Mr. Trump escorted
Mr. King
to the lobby, where they shook hands and said goodbyes before the
president-elect got back on the elevator without talking to reporters.
Asked about the feud between
Mr. Trump and civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis,
Mr. King said that “in the heat of emotions, a lot of things get said on both sides.”