Martin Luther King III Calls Biden Inauguration Amid DC Lockdown ‘Bittersweet’ Moment: My Father Would Be ‘Disappointed’ But ‘Hopeful’

Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King III called the impending of inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden “bittersweet” with Washington, D.C. now under an unprecedented military lockdown in the wake of the violent, pro-Trump insurrection.

Speaking with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer on the national holiday honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., King III said his father would be “greatly disappointed” in what the country is going through after the right-wing mob stormed the Capitol. However, King III also said his father “would certainly be hopeful” about the country’s future because “81 million came together and elected new leadership, and we’re going to see what a commander in chief is supposed to be.”

“We’re going to see the prospects set for a United States of America and hopefully people will turn to each other and not turn on each other,” King said. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be quick, but in time I believe this can happen because the tone is set, in my judgment, by the commander-in-chief.”

Blitzer then asked the son of the Civil Rights icon about the “divisions within our country.”

“Oftentimes when challenges occur, also great opportunities occur, and this is a great opportunity,” King noted. “When you see a commander in chief, meaning President-Elect [Joe] Biden who is going to come in and reach across the aisle and say ‘While you did not vote for me, you’re my adversary, you’re not my enemy.’ It’s a different tone when you’re saying as an adversary I’m reaching out to you to say there’s a place for you because as a Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America we must be engaged together. We won’t necessarily agree on everything, but we must work together to make America the nation that it ought to be.”

King, who resides in Georgia, then touted the recent elections of two Democratic senators in his state, Raphael Warnock, who is also pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, pastoral home of Martin Luther King, Sr. and Jr., and Jon Ossoff, the first Jewish senator from that state.

“We can behave far better than the behavior we’ve seen over the last few days. We saw the worst in America,” King lamented. “We know there’s goodness in America and Americans because whenever there’s a catastrophe, like a tsunami, a hurricane, Americans come and they are willing to help and make a difference. They don’t ask you what party you’re in, what religious orientation you are, what your sexual orientation is. They want to help get you out of that difficult situation. That’s the best of who we are, and we have to focus on bring the best out of America.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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