When Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States at his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, it will coincidentally fall on the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent in the 2024 presidential election, had hoped that the day would instead mark a historic moment in Black history that would’ve seen Harris sworn in as the first Black female president and only the second Black president in the nation’s 248-year-history.
For many, the contrast between Trump’s inauguration and MLK Day is stark, considering Dr. King would’ve been politically opposed to Trump’s MAGA agenda.
King’s daughter, Dr. Bernice King, said that while there is a “sharp contrast” between her father’s ethos of “love and justice” and a Trump record that “sanctions hatred and injustice,” she is “glad” the two events are colliding.
“The timing of the inauguration on MLK Day serves as a poignant reminder of the values my father stood for — unity, equality, and nonviolence. It challenges us to reflect on our leadership and the direction we are heading as a nation,” said Bernice King in a public statement.
She continued, “The inauguration coinciding with my father’s holiday is not about comparing individuals but about holding all leaders to the standard of love and justice that Dr. King exemplified. It’s a call to uphold these enduring values in our leadership and governance.”
Civil rights leaders have expressed their concerns about a second Trump administration, considering Trump’s vow to ban equity programs aimed at eliminating longstanding racial disparities that could impact Black and Brown Americans in areas of business, education, health care and housing.
Bernice King described Trump as “someone who’s spewing hateful rhetoric,” telling The Independent the president-elect has “not been very kind-hearted” and that his “policies are not humane in their approach.”
“Every American is about to experience the very real consequences of a president-elect who … [wants] to weaponize the Department of Justice against institutions of education that seek to ensure everybody gets a fair educational opportunity,” civil rights attorney Maya Wiley told theGrio.
Wiley added, “We have seen him promising mass deportations — which, frankly, are going to focus on communities of color. We already know what he has promised to do, including utilizing the military against its own citizens … all of this is going to be very real very quickly.”
Markus Batchelor, national political director for People For the American Way, told theGrio that the juxtaposition of MLK Day and Trump’s inauguration is a “sad convergence of two events that couldn’t be more different in tone and mission.”
“While MLK Day is a celebration, it’s always been a day of recommitment, acknowledging the work is not yet finished. Donald Trump’s second inauguration will be a raw reminder of that fact,” said Batchelor.
He continued, “A country that can, on the same day, observe a national holiday honoring a champion for freedom and hand the presidency to an authoritarian who traffics in white nationalism is a country still at war with its identity.”
Batchelor said Jan. 20 is a time when the United States must ask itself: “What country do we want to become? King’s dream or Donald Trump’s nightmare scenario?”
He added, “It should also drive us to action. It should inspire us to take up the mantle of protest, of nonviolent resistance, of social and economic justice, and of radical love in the face of noisy hate.”