After lambasting President-elect Donald Trump for meeting with Black celebs, comedian and political commentator D.L. Hughley explains the difference between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s meetings with controversial figures and Black celebs meeting Trump.
Hughley implied on the Jan. 18 edition of his radio show that the celebrities meeting with Trump were only concerned about themselves. The firebrand said that Martin Luther King Jr. is different from others because he “came to change, not to trend.”
Earlier this week, activist Martin Luther King III added fuel to the growing controversy surrounding Black celebrities meeting with Trump by speaking with the president-elect about voting rights on King’s father’s national holiday. Hughley did not find MLK III’s meeting inspiring because he criticized the activist on Facebook and in a recent TMZ interview claiming King tried to sell his father’s historical artifacts.
During the show, Hughley said MLK III’s father did two things — he knew what he wanted and he had secret meetings to avoid criticism.
“You know the difference between Martin Luther King and people visiting Trump? Martin Luther King knew what he wanted,” Hughley says. “He understood what the people he was meeting with wanted. They wanted optics. They wanted the appearance of doing something. That’s not much different than Trump. But you know what? He also did two things: He knew what HE wanted, and every meeting he had wasn’t in public. You know why? Because the gig was more important than the optics.”
The comedian added that people attempting to lead Black people should know about the plight of Black people and be selfless in their goals.
“When you are holding yourself as a leader, what you want is not what you’re there for” he says. “Your picture is not what you’re there for. Your golf game is not what you’re there for. Your endorsement is not what you’re there for.
“If you are holding yourself up as a leader of people, it’s what THEY need is what you should be talking about.”
