The niece of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. dismissed accusations Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s recent comments on Baltimore were racially motivated.
“What the president is simply saying is your communities need to be fixed,” Dr. Alveda King told Fox & Friends.
King and other black faith leaders met with Trump in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss the president’s ongoing criticism that Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland has done little to rectify deep-seated problems in his congressional district in Baltimore.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) speaks to the press on June 11, 2019 on Capitol Hill. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump had described Cummings’ congressional district, which includes parts of Baltimore, as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” after the congressman criticized the president’s detainment policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. This led to a response from Cummings that suggested he was only doing his job by holding the executive branch of government accountable.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi then joined the spat, tweeting that Trump’s comments amounted to “racist attacks.”
“@RepCummings is a champion in the Congress and the country for civil rights and economic justice, a beloved leader in Baltimore, and deeply valued colleague. We all reject racist attacks against him and support his steadfast leadership,” Pelosi tweeted. (RELATED: Pelosi Says Trump ‘Is Goading Us To Impeach Him’)
.@RepCummings is a champion in the Congress and the country for civil rights and economic justice, a beloved leader in Baltimore, and deeply valued colleague. We all reject racist attacks against him and support his steadfast leadership. #ElijahCummingsIsAPatriot https://t.co/2LG8AuQrHh
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 27, 2019
King told Fox that Trump’s words to Cummings are about doing something to help a suffering community.
“You look at [Cummings’] community and you see individuals suffering, you see the community suffering, families suffering,” she said. (RELATED: Alveda King Compares Alabama Democrat To Margaret Sanger)
“All of us in that room, all the pastors, are working to reunite American families, strengthen the economy — we talked about all of those things and they were presented very well by the leaders of America,” King added.
US President Donald Trump responds to Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during a meeting with inner city pastors at the White House in Washington, DC,on Aug. 1, 2018. – (Photo JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
King also said the talks focused on the president’s pro-life policies.
“We were concerned, almost mutually, about the sanctities of life and ending abortion and all that,” she said. “Because we feel there’s a correlation between not caring for the babies in the womb and then your communities, your individuals and everything will suffer.”