For decades, Martin Luther King Jr. has stood as a moral benchmark in American history — but lately, his legacy has been treated less like a standard to meet and more like a costume to borrow. The question isn’t just why they invoke his name, but what it is they hope to legitimize by doing so.
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From President Donald Trump’s tone-deaf comparisons to attempts to link the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk to the civil rights revolutionary, we’re taking a closer look at how far some have gone in trying to measure themselves up against Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — A Changemaker Who Reshaped America
Let’s not get it twisted. We understand fully why someone would want to portray an image as great as Martin Luther King Jr., a once-in-a-generation leader whose courage, sacrifice, and moral clarity helped change the trajectory of American history.
Dr. King’s Impact on Black America
From the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the March on Washington, there’s a reason his name has stood the test of time. His unmistakable leadership didn’t just challenge unjust laws — it reshaped Black political power, collective identity, and the very language of freedom in America.
Dr. King’s Fighting Spirit Inspires
It is abundantly clear that the center of King’s fighting spirit was hope and faith. In his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” the reverend likened his mission to that of the mission of “the prophets of the eighth century,” who carried the gospel, saying he is “compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.” It’s this legacy folks want to grab hold on for their own agenda.
Manipulating Dr. King’s Legacy for Validation
While King took on a massive amount of pressure for a good outcome, today folks are using his name as a shortcut to credibility, invoking his legacy to justify movements and figures that stand in direct opposition to the values he risked his life to defend.
Trump Compares Jan. 6 to ‘I Have a Dream’ Audience
Trump is known for boasting about his rallies, however when he compared the Jan. 6 crowd to the turnout of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, folks were floored.
Trump Boasts at Mar-a-Lago
“Nobody has spoken to crowds bigger than me,” Trump stated from his conference at Mar-a-Lago, per NBC. “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people.”
‘We Actually Had More People’
Per the news outlet, Trump acknowledged official estimates that his crowd was smaller, however he pushed further. “But when you look at the exact same picture and everything is the same — because it was the fountains, the whole thing all the way back to go from Lincoln to Washington — and you look at it, and you look at the picture of my crowd … we actually had more people,” Trump said.
Florida Congresswoman Compares Kirk to MLK
At Kirk’s memorial, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna likened Kirk to MLK, saying “His name will stand etched into history beside the likes of JFK… and Dr. King, who marched into the jaws of hatred sacrificing his safety and ultimately his life to bend the arc of history towards justice.” Needless to say, this had folks fired up.
Comparing Charlie Kirk to MLK is ‘Crazy Work’
When these comparisons began circulating online, Black folks — even white folks — were floored. The above clip, which states “they both died for speaking their beliefs,” was met with fierce opposition, and for good reason. “Comparing Charlie Kirk to MLK is crazy work,” the TikTok user stated.
Martin Luther King III Sets the Record Straight
MLK’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III didn’t hesitate to set the record straight on everything wrong with these gross comparisons. While others were busy claiming Kirk was a beacon of hope, the activist’s son had to respectfully disagree, per Wavy News. “When you’re doing that, it’s a disservice to unification,” he stated.
King III Disagrees That Kirk Was ‘Inclusive’
“I just disagree with the position that his [Kirk] force was about inclusiveness. When you denigrate Black women and say that somebody is in a position just because of the color of their skin, that’s gravely false,” King III stated, per the outlet. “Every person that he talked about was beyond and eminently qualified.”
Bernice King is ‘Tired’
The civil rights leader’s daughter, Bernice King, has also been vocal about gross comparisons involving her father — even when rap star Sexyy Red shared graphic AI images of the revolutionary icon. And when a photo of Kirk standing alongside King, JFK, Lincoln, and Jesus began to circulate, she was over it.
“There are so many things wrong with this. So many. I get tired, y’all,” she wrote.
Let’s Wrap the Comparisons Up
There’s a laundry list of reasons folks would want to fill the shoes of an exceptional civil rights leader like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. That said, let’s wrap up the comparisons. The revolutionary’s legacy deserves respect, not misuse, and no one gains credibility by trying to stand in his shadow.
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