‘God can triumph over Trump’ – King’s daughter

ATLANTA/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Martin Luther King’s daughter said on Monday that “God can triumph over Trump,” but the slain civil rights leader’s son struck a conciliatory tone after meeting with the president-elect on the US holiday that honors their father.

The comments by the children of King, who championed racial justice until he was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, punctuated an imbroglio involving Donald Trump and AfricanAmerican congressman John Lewis that broke out over the weekend.

The dispute started when Lewis, 76, a contemporary of King’s who endured beatings and jail time in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, said in a televised interview that he saw Trump’s election as illegitimate because of Russian interference in the campaign. That drew a scornful response from Trump.

Bernice King, King’s youngest daughter, told a gathering at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta not to give up hope and “Don’t be afraid of who sits in the White House.”

“God can triumph over Trump,” she said, drawing a standing ovation, one of several times she was interrupted by thunderous applause.

Trump and King III emerged from an elevator together, shaking hands. Trump said goodbye to King, then returned to the elevator without answering questions.

King said they had a constructive meeting to discuss how to improve the US voting system, which King considers broken, but he skirted questions about whether he was offended by Trump’s comments on Lewis.

“First of all I think that in the heat of emotion a lot of things get said on both sides. I think at some point I bridge-build. The goal is to bring America together,” King told reporters.