Trump meets with Martin Luther King’s son

Trump’s comments drew widespread criticism and have done little to reassure those uneasy about the transition from the nation’s first black President.

January 17, 2017 11:09 am | Updated 11:09 am IST - NEW YORK

Martin Luther King III speaks to the press after meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday.

Martin Luther King III speaks to the press after meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday.

Days before taking office, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attempted to navigate the fallout of his flap with a civil rights leader and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while also losing a member of his incoming administration to accusations of plagiarism.

Mr. Trump on Monday met with one of King’s sons on the holiday marking the life of the slain American icon just days after the President-elect attacked John Lewis on Twitter. Mr. Lewis and the elder King were among the Big Six leaders of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Mr. Trump accused Mr. Lewis for being “all talk” after Mr. Lewis questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Trump’s election. The President-elect also advised the veteran congressman to pay more attention to his “crime ridden” Atlanta-area district. Mr. Trump’s comments drew widespread criticism and have done little to reassure those uneasy about the transition from the nation’s first black President to a President-elect still struggling to connect with most non-white voters.

Martin Luther King III downplayed the slight, saying that “in the heat of emotion a lot of things get said on both sides.” Mr. King, who said he pressed Mr. Trump on the need for voting reform to increase participation, deemed the meeting “constructive.” Mr. King said that while he disagreed with the President-elect’s comments, he believed “at some point in this nation we’ve got to move forward.”

“He said that he is going to represent all Americans. He said that over and over again,” Mr. King told reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower after the nearly hour-long meeting. “I believe that’s his intent, but I think we also have to consistently engage with pressure, public pressure. It doesn’t happen automatically.”

He said that he is going to represent all Americans. He said that over and over again.

Mr. Trump, who struggled for support from minority voters on Election Day, briefly joined Mr. King in the lobby but ignored reporters’ shouted questions about his comments about Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Lewis had suggested that Mr. Trump’s November victory was delegitimised due to Russian interference and said he would boycott Friday’s inauguration. More than two dozen Democratic members of Congress have said they will sit out the Mr. Trump ceremony. Among them is Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen, who said on Monday that “this President ‘semi-elect’ does not deserve to be President of the United States. He has not exhibited the characteristics or the values that we hold dear.”

The Martin Luther King holiday is meant to honor community service and volunteerism, and many Americans, including President Barack Obama, spend part of the day doing a service project of some kind. Mr. Trump, who cancelled a planned trip to Washington, spent the day inside the Manhattan skyscraper that bears his name.

Meanwhile, conservative media commentator Monica Crowley will not be joining the Trump administration following accusations of plagiarism, according to a transition official.

Ms. Crowley, a frequent on-air presence at Fox News Channel , had been slated to join Mr. Trump’s National Security Council as a director of strategic communications. On Monday, she withdrew her name from consideration after CNN reported last week that several passages in a 2012 book Ms. Crowley wrote were plagiarized. Publisher HarperCollins then pulled the book.

Ms. Crowley’s retreat was first reported by The Washington Times . The transition official confirmed the decision on the condition of anonymity.

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