If conservative pundit Nick Adams is to be believed, former President Donald Trump has someone who’s come back from the dead to support him: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
On Feb. 2, Adams posted a photo of Trump alongside four well-known Black figures and the text “Black History Month.” His caption read, “Black America is rallying around President Trump!” The four men are Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, rapper Lil Wayne, retired football star and former U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and King.
(Screenshot from Facebook)
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If you’re familiar with King, you would likely know that this claim cannot be true.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Trump — who was born on June 14, 1946 — was only 21 years old then.
He was decades out from starting his political career; at the time, he was still attending what was then the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. He graduated on May 20, 1968. Trump is now seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
As for the other men in the photo, two have been known to support Trump. Walker’s senatorial campaign in 2022 was backed by Trump. He has deep ties to Trump, who gave Walker a 1984 contract extension when he played for the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals.
Lil Wayne expressed support for Trump in October 2020, when he posted on X, then Twitter, “Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.” Trump later pardoned Wayne over a firearm charge.
In April 2020, Jackson posted “Truzz Trump” on X, then Twitter, in response to Trump’s comment on his getting drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. He later clarified that he wasn’t making a political statement. In a press call that same month (at the 1:59 mark here), Jackson said, “I see you making a statement about me being a great pick, my teammate congratulating me and stuff like that, so I was just like, ‘Appreciate that. Truss.’”
“I wasn’t making no political statements or anything like that,” he said later at the 4:40 mark. “But I was just, like I said, just agreeing to what he was saying about me and my teammate. That’s all.”
But Martin Luther King Jr. is not and has never supported Trump. That’s Pants on Fire!
Truth-o-meter Ruling
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Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, when Trump was 21 years old and still attending the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
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Here’s how PolitiFact chooses which statements to fact-check.
Statement
Context
a Facebook postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Facebook post (archived), Feb. 2, 2024
The White House, Donald Trump, accessed Feb. 6, 2023
The Washington Post, It’s the 50th anniversary of the day Trump left college and (briefly) faced the draft, May 20, 2018
CNN, Trump endorses Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate race, Sept. 2, 2021
X post by Lil Wayne, Oct. 29, 2020
Vanity Fair, Lil Wayne, Who Once Endorsed Donald Trump, Has Been Pardoned, Jan. 20, 2021
National Football League, Lamar Jackson profile, accessed Feb. 6, 2023
X post by Lamar Jackson, April 18, 2020
USA Today, NFL MVP, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson says 'Truzz Trump' tweet wasn't politically motivated, April 21, 2020
Baltimore Ravens live stream, April 21, 2020
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