Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. has slammed former President Barack Obama’s political statements made during his eulogy for the late Rep. John Lewis, calling it a “divisive, politically charged, and frankly, at times, mean-spirited speech filled with statements not based in truth or reality.”
The left will “grab at any opportunity” to lie and turn an occasion like the funeral of civil rights leader John Lewis into “a political moment,” Dr. Alveda King said in an interview on “Fox & Friends. In fact, King said that she should have expected former President Barack Obama to “grab at” the chance.
“I have chosen not to politicize the death of Congressman Lewis, but to remember him as a peaceful, nonviolent warrior and encourage everyone to resolve our conflicts peacefully,” she remarked.
The divisive speech was appalling and deserved the harsh criticism from Dr. King.
“Now, I know this is a celebration of John’s life. There are some who might say we shouldn’t dwell on such things. But that’s why I’m talking about it,” Obama told funeral attendees in Atlanta. “John Lewis devoted his time on this Earth fighting the very attacks on democracy and what’s best in America that we are seeing circulate right now.”
Obama then did the unthinkable and launched into a full-fledge political discussion about a variety of topics including the Voting Rights Act, granting statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, turning Election Day into a national holiday, implementing automatic voter registration, getting rid of the Senate’s filibuster, and nationwide civil unrest following the death of George Floyd.
The remarks were disgraceful, and according to King, he distorted history when he “took us back to the 1960s.”
At the beginning of his speech, Obama talked about the life of Lewis, who had been beaten by state troopers during the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Dr. King remembered, “And that was a time when segregation was still on the books, segregation was still legal, and those in power…some of them were trying to enforce that and keep that. Today, when the National Guard goes in — sent by the president for example — or state troopers, they are trying to protect the people of America in every community. And, to save lives and protect people,” she said. “There is a totally distinct difference.”
King was not impressed by Obama, and said that drawing parallels without naming names and alleging that there is “an effort to undermine the voting process.”
“Actually President Trump is saying: ‘People, please pay attention. We do want you to vote. Use your absentee ballots. Go to the polls.’ He has even encouraged, you know, people to be poll watchers and poll workers and that kind of thing. President Trump is not trying to suppress the vote,” King asserted. “We do want people to vote safely. And we need the voting process to be fair. And so, to politicize the funeral of a peaceful warrior — I mean, I guess they grabbed at an opportunity to be political.”
Featured Image by Gage Skidmore