MLK's daughter tells church audience that 'God can triumph over Trump'

(Image credit: Jason Davis/Getty Images)

last updated 17 January 2017

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, two of the late civil rights leader's children participated in two very different events.

Speaking at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where her father once preached, Bernice King, his youngest daughter, told the crowd not to be "afraid of who sits in the White House," adding, "God can triumph over [Donald] Trump." She received a standing ovation and thunderous applause. At the same time, Trump, who received 8 percent of the black vote, was in New York meeting with Bernice King's brother, Martin Luther King III. As he left Trump Tower, King said he believes the U.S. voting system is broken, and he spoke with Trump about how to improve it.

On Saturday, Trump was blasted for attacking 1960s civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on Twitter. In an interview with NBC News, Lewis had said that because of evidence of Russia meddling in the election to help Trump win, "I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president." Trump accused Lewis, whose skull was fractured when he was beaten by a state trooper on a day that became known as Bloody Sunday, of being "all talk, talk, talk‚ no action or results." King did not directly comment on whether he was offended by what Trump said about a man who worked side by side with his father, saying: "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."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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