17 Times People Butchered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is coming up on Monday, Jan. 15 — which means we are going to hear a lot of people invoking Dr. King who have no business with his name in their mouth. Seriously, no one loves trotting out MLK Jr. quotes to buttress a point more than the people who would have absolutely hated his guts if he were alive today. And while there are a ton of absolutely bonkers takes on a man who—need we remind people, was a radical civil rights icon—here are the 17 most egregious times his legacy was butchered in recent years.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — who mind you believes white supremacy is fake, believes carrying on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s mission. Ramaswamy said that he was furthering the civil rights icon’s legacy by fighting against people who make their race and gender central to their identity and politics — a thing the civil rights icon who fought to end the oppression of Black Americans obviously would have hated.

Amy Schumer implied that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have supported the bombing of Palestinians in Gaza. Dr. Bernice King quickly gathered the comedian — reminding her of his ardent support for withdrawing from the Vietnam War.

This one was bizare. During a rally, former President Donald Trump said that North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, who called the Civil Rights Movement a communist plot, was better than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

While this wasn’t the most egregious example of someone invoking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on this list — in light of her recent comments we have to mention it. Haley has repeatedly said that she was inspired by the civil rights icon who fought for Black liberation. So, it’s a little bizare that she would simultaneously be such an ardent defender of the South in the civil war aka the side that fought to keep Black people enslaved.

Dr. Bernice King already dragged the Texas Republican Senator for this, but it’s still worth a revisit. In May, Senator Ted Cruz said that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been “ashamed” of the NAACP for issuing a travel advisory for Florida. His daughter quickly responded calling his “dishonest” and saying MLK would have been “deeply concerned” about discrimination in Florida.

After the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action in higher education, Pence said that this was upholding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision. He also managed to simultaneously butcher the quote. But that honestly feels like the lesser of the offenses, considering Dr. King ardently supported affirmative action.

In 2019, former Vice President Mike Pence quoted Dr.Martin Luther King jr. while defending a border wall between Mexico and the United States.

This went down in 2015, but it’s still a head scratcher. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee boldly stated that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been “appalled” by the Black Lives Matter movement because they’re talking specifically about Black lives and not “All Lives.” As we all know, MLK absolutely hated when people brought up the specific injustices facing Black Americans and anyone protesting those injustices.

The apple does not fall far from the tree in this scenario. In a social media post, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders implied that Dr. Martin Luther King jr. would have celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to gut affirmative action. Again, can’t believe we have to say this, but Dr. King pushed for affirmative action policies.

We can always count on Dr. Bernice King to call out people mis-appropriating her father’s legacy. During a victory speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King jr. Dr. Bernice King quickly clapped back saying that her father’s legacy was about “eradicating racism, militarism, and poverty,” not “denying healthcare to human beings or by separating Brown immigrant children from their parents.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence really loves to bring Dr. Martin Luther King jr. into things. During an interview on CBS, Pence said that he wouldn’t say Black lives matter because of the example set by MLK — who in this universe hated anyone calling out the unique and specific form of oppression impacting Black Americans. MLK also famously hated protests against police brutality, which is why he was beloved by law enforcement.

This actually happened. In 2013, Glenn Beck defended Paula Deen using the N-word by comparing her to Dr. Martin Luther King jr. “Where would the world be if Columbus and Magellan and other world explorers believed conventional wisdom and believed the world was flat… Where would we be if Martin Luther King didn’t speak and challenge segregation? Where would we be if everyone in the world thought in the box?” said Beck, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Popular podcaster Joe Rogan went on a rant about schools in California teaching children about racism and anti-racism. Rogan contended that this was against Dr. Martin Luther King’s wishes. Dr. King notably included young children in his protests, and not only called out racism, but insisted that white people had a moral responsability to also call it out.

This is less about butchering Dr. Martin Luther King jr.’s legacy and more about trying to fan girl after the fact. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise voted against making Martin Luther King Day a Federal holiday twice, but has since repeatedly invoked him as a national hero.

Former President Donald Trump’s then-attorney, Ken Starr, had an interesting defense of his boss at the time. Starr said that Trump’s impeachment trial violated Dr. Martin Luther King jr.’s calls for justice.

Once again, conservatives implied that Dr. Martin Luther King jr. would be outraged at the impeachment of Donald Trump — a man who said that non-white people were “poisoning the blood” of America. MLK’s son pushed back on the statements.