Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., said President Donald Trump's inauguration coinciding with the holiday honoring her father's legacy ultimately "points us back to King."
"It's wonderful that this occurs on the King holiday — the inauguration — because it reminds us of King," she told MSNBC on Saturday.
The youngest of Martin Luther King Jr.'s four children, Bernice King was 5 on April 4, 1968, when her father was assassinated.
As the U.S. transitions to a new presidential administration, the overlap between the federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and Inauguration Day isn't cause for concern, Bernice King said.
"It says, 'When we move forward, we've got to do it in the spirit of King,' " she said.
Bernice King and her brother, Martin Luther King III, have been vocal critics of Trump during his political career.
She called on those who might be feeling "defeated" by the outcome of the election to "stay focused on the goal" of nonviolence, which was promoted by her father.
"We have to strategize," she said, "We've been missing the strategy. We've been missing the spirit of Dr. King. The spirit of Dr. King is nonviolence. And nonviolence is not just a posture, it's a mindset. For us, we define it as a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting and engaging that leads to personal, cultural and societal transformation."
In a Sunday interview with "Meet the Press," King III, the late civil rights icon's eldest son, also discussed Trump's inauguration on his father's holiday, urging the nation's 47th president to "be in dialogue with everybody" and not just those who support him.
"If you said you wanted to be a uniter, then those who didn't support you, you need to reach out to them or allow them to reach out to you," King III said. "We're not reflective of the 'United' States of America right this moment, in my judgment."
Since the holiday was established in 1983, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has twice fallen on the same day as Inauguration Day. The first instance happened in 1997 for Bill Clinton's second term and in 2013 for Barack Obama's second term. Obama also reportedly swore his oath of office on a Bible that once belonged to the civil rights icon.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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