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Sharpton calls Trump indictment ‘spiritual,’ says Bragg ‘will deliver us justice’

by Stephen Neukam - 04/06/23 9:21 AM ET

AP Photo/Susan Walsh
The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at the National Action Network’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Day breakfast, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, in Washington. AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist and reverend, said he thinks the indictment of former President Trump was “spiritual,” saying Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will “deliver us justice.”

“I’m always looking for the spiritual interpretation of something. And I think it’s very ironic that on … the 55th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, that the president that tried to turn back a lot of what King did is going to be arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court by a Black DA,” Sharpton said at an event at New York University on Monday before Trump’s arraignment, according to the Washington Times.

The comments from Sharpton, who also hosts a weekend show on MSNBC, came before Trump was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday. The arraignment was surrounded by swarms of law enforcement and media, and featured dueling anti and pro-Trump demonstrators. The arraignment marked the first time a sitting or former president has faced criminal charges.

Trump was charged with 34 felony counts related to the falsification of business records in an alleged scheme to pay off Stormy Daniels and others to keep potentially damaging information about then-candidate Trump from going public before the 2016 election.

Sharpton said Bragg, who has come under intense criticism from Trump and those aligned with the former president, made him think of Martin Luther King Jr. as he brought the charges against Trump.

“I’m thinking of Dr. King as the first Black Manhattan DA will deliver us justice and bring criminal charges against President Trump,” Sharpton said.

Sharpton’s comments on the arrest fall into a chorus of voices that have attempted to spin the news in two different directions. Trump and his allies have framed the prosecution as a political witch hunt meant to hinder his 2024 White House bid. Others have argued that the historic charges against a former president show that no one is above the law, praising the justice system for working as intended.