Work on Trump’s heart, says King
UNITED STATES: US President Donald Trump vehemently denied accusations of racism as the eldest son of civil rights icon Dr Martin Luther King Jr attacked him yesterday and said: ‘‘We have to work on this man’s heart.’’
The latest twist came as the row over whether Trump disparaged African countries, Haiti, and El Salvador as ‘‘s...holes’’ looked set to destroy a deal with Democrats over immigration.
Trump publicly denied making the remarks during an Oval Office meeting with Republican and Democrat senators last week.
‘‘No, no, I’m not a racist,’’ the president said, adding that he was ‘‘the least racist person ever’’.
His ex-wife, Ivana, who was married to him for 15 years until 1992, came to Trump’s defence, saying that he was ‘‘definitely not racist’’ and was a ‘‘nice guy’’.
She told Good Morning Britain: ‘‘I don’t think Donald is racist at all. Sometimes he says things which are silly and he does not really mean them, but he definitely is not racist.
‘‘He has so many people telling him, left and right, what to say, what not to say, and maybe it gets confusing.’’
She added: ‘‘He’s not going to change, and I think the tweeting is actually not a bad idea, as you speak to the press. The press change every word you say and they twist it. If he tweets, it’s out of his mouth.
‘‘No, he is not that bad, he is actually a nice guy.’’
However, Trump faced a further wave of criticism yester- day, which was Martin Luther King Jr Day, a public holiday in the US.
In a televised address marking the date of King’s birth, Trump said: ‘‘Dr King’s dream is our dream. It is the American dream. It’s the promise stitched into the fabric of our nation, etched into the hearts of our people, and written into the soul of humankind.’’
But, speaking in Washington, Martin Luther King III, the civil right’s icon’s eldest son, said: ‘‘When a president insists that our nation needs more citizens from white states like Norway, I don’t even think we need to spend any time talking about what it says and what it is.
‘‘We got to find a way to work on this man’s heart.’’
Referring to George Wallace, the former governor of Alabama, he added: ‘‘George Wallace was a staunch racist, and we worked on his heart. And, ultimately, George Wallace transformed.’’
Community leaders and some prominent Democrats took aim at Trump at a commemoration in Harlem, New York City, led by the Rev Al Sharpton.
South Africa and Nigeria yesterday became the latest countries to summon senior US diplomats to make formal complaints about Trump’s reported remarks.
The meeting at which the comments were reportedly made was an attempt to agree on protection against deportation for the ‘‘Dreamers’’ – hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US illegally as children. Trump said yesterday the deal was ‘‘probably dead because the Democrats don’t really want it’’.
– Telegraph Group