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These 40 senators celebrated Martin Luther King Day while undermining his legacy

Coretta Scott King wrote in 1986 that the Alabama Republican would ‘irreparably damage’ her late husband’s work.

Josh Israel Twitter
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) at a 2016 Mardi Gras parade CREDIT: Office of Jeff Sessions
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) at a 2016 Mardi Gras parade CREDIT: Office of Jeff Sessions

In a 1986 letter opposing the nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship, Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow wrote that, “The actions taken by Mr. Sessions in regard to the 1984 voting fraud prosecutions represent just one more technique used to intimidate Black voters and thus deny them this most precious franchise,” adding that the Alabama Republican had “sought to punish older black civil rights activists, advisors and colleagues of my husband, who had been key figures in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.”

Three decades later, despite his record of racism before and during his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Donald Trump nominated Sessions to be attorney general of the United States. Not one Republican senator has opposed his nomination, and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin has indicated that Sessions will have his support in the upcoming confirmation vote.

And yet, on Monday, Manchin and 39 of his Republican senate colleagues took to Facebook and Twitter to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. and the federal holiday commemorating his legacy.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN):

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO):

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR):

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC):

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Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV):

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA):

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN):

Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX):

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Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR):

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID):

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX):

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT):

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA):

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE):

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO):

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC):

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA):

Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV):

Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND):

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK):

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA):

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI):

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK):

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY):

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS):

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK):

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY):

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA):

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH):

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS):

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD):

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL):

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE):

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC):

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL):

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK):

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC):

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA):

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Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS):

Additionally, the official Twitter feed for the Senate Republicans tweeted out a quote that seems especially ironic given the rhetoric and record of Sessions and the man who nominated him.

Republican Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Orrin Hatch of Utah, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Mike Lee of Utah, John McCain of Arizona, Jim Risch of Idaho, John Thune of South Dakota, and Todd Young of Indiana opted not to say anything on Facebook or Twitter to commemorate the day. Sessions himself also was silent, but he has not been active of social media since his nomination was announced.

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Grassley, Hatch, McCain, and Shelby all voted against making MLK Day a federal holiday, back in 1983. But since that time, it has become a tradition for many GOP lawmakers to pay tribute to King’s legacy with words, while undermining it with deeds.