The families of Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackie Robinson demanded that President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign remove images of the late Black icons from one of its newest political ads.
Bernice King, the youngest daughter of the late civil rights leader, called the inclusion of her father’s image in the ad “beyond insulting.”
“My father should not be used in ways strongly misaligned with his vision and values,” Bernice King tweeted Wednesday.
“My father was working for an America with leaders who have answered the call to conscience and compassionate action,” she added. “He said, ’We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity. ... America needs this type of leader NOW.”
The ad, titled “We Will Never Surrender America,” appeared to target Black voters. The nearly one-and-a-half-minute video includes images of King and Robinson, Major League Baseball’s first Black player since a color line was established in the late 19th century.
“Jackie Robinson’s family strongly objects to the use of Jackie Robinson’s image in a Donald Trump [ad],” Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, tweeted Thursday.
“The Trump campaign is in opposition to all that Jackie Robinson stood for and believed in,” she said. “We’re insulted and demand that his image be removed!”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment
The Trump campaign regularly faces calls from musicians ― Rihanna, Axl Rose, Neil Young and others ― to stop playing their music during his rallies because they strongly dislike him and his message.
But Trump’s inclusion of King and Robinson in a political ad especially enraged some Twitter users, who pointed out that the president has a history of making bigoted comments and pushing racist policies.
In August, Trump encouraged a racist conspiracy theory that Sen. Kamala Harris of California is not be eligible to be Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate.
Last week, during the first 2020 presidential debate, Trump refused to condemn white supremacists, drawing backlash from Democrats and several Republicans. Following days of that backlash, Trump eventually denounced white supremacists in an interview on Fox News.