Trump releases video honoring MLK on anniversary of assassination

President Trump on Wednesday released a video message honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination, declaring that “the promise he fought for could never be taken away.”

In the roughly one-minute video posted to Twitter, the president honored the late civil rights icon and described his work as “uniting” the country.

{mosads}”Fifty years ago, Dr. King was cruelly taken from this world by an assassin’s bullet, but the promise he fought for could never be taken away,” Trump says in the video.

“The cause for which he gave his life only gains strength and force and power with the passage of time,” Trump added. “I ask every citizen to join me in remembering this great American hero and to carry on his legacy of equality and freedom.”

The president’s message followed a proclamation from the White House Tuesday night calling on Americans to “denounce racism, inhumanity, and all those things that seek to divide us,” themes which were not included in Trump’s Twitter video.

“We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters lest we perish together as fools. We must embrace the sanctity of life and love our neighbor as we love ourselves,” a line from Tuesday’s proclamation adds.

The president nominated King’s niece, Alveda King, to the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission in February. The commission was established last year to plan events honoring Frederick Douglass, a forefather of the abolitionist movement.