Evangelist Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., is proving herself one of the few public figures willing to judge Donald Trump by the content of his character.
Instead of joining the latest Donald Trump feeding frenzy, King is trying to correct misinformation about him.
In a little-noticed statement Thursday, King blasted a Daily Beast report that Trump on Wednesday “blew off” a scheduled conference call with herself and other pro-life activists in Washington, D.C.
“I was at the meeting [of Priests for Life], and Mr. Trump did not reject any invitation. There was no meeting with Mr. Trump scheduled in the first place,” King said.
“I personally have met Mr. Trump and have spoken with his staff and supporters on a regular basis, and find them very open to pro life discussions. I remain saddened by the ‘winner take all by any means necessary’ affront that is being promulgated in this election season.”
The widely-covered “blow off” is a fascinating testament to journalistic sloth and the bi-partisan Donald Trump circle jerk.
On refreshing note, it also says quite a bit about the integrity of pro-life activists that they declined to join the fray, even after Trump angered them last week by supporting criminal penalties for women who have abortion.
Here is what happened.
In a straight news story Politico reported that, “Anti-abortion activists gathered in Washington on Wednesday had expected to hear from Donald Trump about his abortion positions. They left disappointed. Trump did not address the 115 Forum, a conference of abortion foes in Washington organized by Priests for Life. Three sources associated with the group said organizers had initially led attendees to believe that Trump would be speaking to them by phone. Yet later on Wednesday, organizers said the mogul would not be speaking.”
So, basically, it is not clear from Politico if Trump ever committed to participating in the event. Only that organizers convinced their flock he would do a phone call.
Anybody who read the story without an axe to grind would realize it is quite possible the conference organizers, as many do in Washington, possibly promised a big name appearance that they had not actually confirmed.
But most of the follow-ups gave the impression that Trump (trigger warning) welched on his promise to the pro-lifers. As usual Trump was subjected to more exacting standards than other politicians this campaign season.
Suppose Trump did break his word?
Candidates bail on events all the time. That hardly seems like such an important story for anybody not out to depict Trump as some kind of conservative poseur. He broke his commitment to pro-lifers. That shows he does not care about their issues!
Compare the extensive coverage of the alleged blow-off to how the press virtually ignored the truly insulting way Ben Carson treated pro-life leaders last Fall.
Last Fall, Carson said the effort by congressional Republicans, George Bush and then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005 to prevent Terry Schiavo’s husband from having her feeding tube removed was “much ado about nothing.”
He apparently confused Schiavo with a terminally ill woman whose life was being extended with extraordinary measures.
Schiavo’s brother, Bobby Schindler, asked Carson to retract his statement and discuss the matter with him in person. Schindler worried that Carson’s comments would embolden people who want to remove the feeding tubes of brain damaged but otherwise medically stable patients.
Instead, Carson called Schindler and said he was too busy to meet him during a scheduled Philadelphia campaign appearance. The famed neurosurgeon also insisted falsely that the media misrepresented his original remarks
Carson’s haughty and deceitful blow off was only reported here and LifeNews.com.
King’s statement was re-printed with some minor changes by Newsmax but ignored by The Hill and other publications that covered the original controversy.