On Friday, President Donald Trump encouraged Americans to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “with acts of civic work and community service” on MLK Day.
The president, however, is not taking his own advice — according to the White House pool, the president will be spending MLK Day at his Florida golf course. This mark his 94th day at a Trump golf course since becoming president, and the 121st day at a Trump-branded property. Trump has spent one-third of the days since entering office at a Trump-associated property, despite spending years criticizing former president Barack Obama for playing golf while in office and his vow to rarely leave the White House if elected.
Per WH pool, Pres Trump has arrived at his FL golf club, no public events on his schedule today.
Last Fri he encouraged all Americans to observe MLK Day "with acts of civic work and community service in honor of Dr. King’s extraordinary life…& his great legacy."— Karen Travers (@karentravers) January 15, 2018
On Friday, the president signed a proclamation honoring MLK Day, but he has not publicly commented on the holiday since. Instead, he spent the morning tweeting about immigration reform, attempting to paint Democratic lawmakers as uninterested in reaching a deal on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Trump also retweeted a message from the official White House account that said “Dr. King’s dream is our dream.”
Trump has spent the last few days denying allegations of racism due to comments reportedly made during a bipartisan meeting on immigration reform last week, where he reportedly referred to Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries as “shithole countries.” On Sunday, in response to widespread criticism of the comments, Trump told a group of reporters that he was “the least racist person you will ever interview.” Despite Trump’s comment, however, the president has a long history of racist statements and actions, from fueling the “birther” conspiracy movement alleging that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States to calling Mexicans “rapists” during his presidential campaign.
Unlike Trump, Vice President Mike Pence publicly commemorated the holiday by laying a wreath at the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C. Pence tweeted that King was “a great American leader who inspired a movement & transformed a Nation.” Despite his purported support for the “movement” that King created, Pence has been extremely critical of contemporary racial and social justice movements. In October, Pence and his wife walked out of a NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts after several players on the field took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. The move was criticized by critics as a political stunt that cost taxpayers some $14,000 in increased security costs.
In 2009, as president-elect, Obama spent MLK Day visiting wounded veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland and volunteering at a homeless shelter for teens in the Washington, D.C. area. Obama continued the tradition of honoring MLK Day with community service throughout his presidency.