Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Jr. speaks to members of the media following a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)NEW YORK - Days before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump attempted to navigate the fallout of his flap with a civil rights leader and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while also losing a member of his incoming administration to accusations of plagiarism.
Trump on Monday met with one of King's sons on the holiday marking the life of the slain American icon just days after the president-elect attacked Rep. John Lewis on Twitter. Lewis and the elder King were among the Big Six leaders of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Trump accused Lewis, D-Ga., for being "all talk" after Lewis questioned the legitimacy of Trump's election. The president-elect also advised the veteran congressman to pay more attention to his "crime ridden" Atlanta-area district. Trump's comments drew widespread criticism and have done little to reassure those uneasy about the transition from the nation's first black president to a president-elect still struggling to connect with most nonwhite voters.
Martin Luther King III downplayed the slight, saying that "in the heat of emotion a lot of things get said on both sides." King, who said he pressed Trump on the need for voting reform to increase participation, deemed the meeting "constructive." King said that while he disagreed with the president-elect's comments, he believed "at some point in this nation we've got to move forward."
"He said that he is going to represent all Americans. He said that over and over again," King told reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower after the nearly hourlong meeting. "I believe that's his intent, but I think we also have to consistently engage with pressure, public pressure. It doesn't happen automatically."
Trump, who struggled for support from minority voters on Election Day, briefly joined King in the lobby but ignored reporters' shouted questions about his comments about Lewis.
Lewis had suggested that Trump's November victory was delegitimized because of Russian interference and said he would boycott Friday's Inauguration.