When Will Trump Take Office? On MLK Day, Unfortunately
The Intelligencer’s senior editor Margaret Hartmann lamented in a new piece, “When Will Trump Take Office? On MLK Day, Unfortunately.” Hartmann noted the “depressing” news that President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in to his second, non-consecutive term in office on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The presidential inauguration will take place on the third Monday of January each year, close to King’s birthday on January 15. Two other inaugurations have fallen on MLK Day since its inception, including Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997 and Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013.
Hartmann was dismayed that Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in the general election, won’t be getting her historic moment in the spotlight. She wrote, “So, if Kamala Harris had become the first Black woman elected president… Yup, but instead, we’ll be swearing in the guy who spent the first MLK Day of his presidency golfing, and who recently bragged that his pre-insurrection speech on January 6, 2021, drew a bigger crowd than King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech (which isn’t true).”
In his first term, Trump marked the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination. He issued a White House proclamation in January 2018, saying, “This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. King, who was tragically assassinated on April 4, 1968. As we approach this solemn milestone, we acknowledge our Nation’s continuing debt to Dr. King’s legacy.”
