President Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a message from Trump’s daughter-in-law celebrating the civil rights leader’s legacy.
“He truly changed the course of human history, and his principles of nonviolence in pursuit of equality and justice continue to serve as an example for all the world,” said senior campaign adviser Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump.
“In so many ways, the hope and promise of Reverend King exists today, yet we are all called upon as Americans to continue his work and ensure that equal opportunity is available in every community and every corner of our society, including for our children and grandchildren,” she said.
The statement follows a weeklong controversy over Trump allegedly telling a group of lawmakers that certain African nations with citizens immigrating to the U.S. are “shithole” countries.
Some lawmakers accused Trump of racism for the alleged remark, which the White House denied he said.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and a potential Utah Senate candidate, marked the King Jr. federal holiday with a statement addressing Trump’s alleged remark.
“The poverty of an aspiring immigrant’s nation of origin is as irrelevant as their race,” Romney tweeted. “The sentiment attributed to POTUS is inconsistent w/ America’s history and antithetical to American values.”
