In President Trump’s nearly two years in office, despite his issues with African-American voters, Alveda King has remained at his side.
On Friday, while Congress debated the merits of funding a 2,000-mile wall along the U.S. southern border, King stood beside the president as he signed into law the First Step Act, a bipartisan overhaul of the criminal justice system that will give judges more sentencing flexibility, especially for nonviolent drug crimes.
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“Do y’all remember when this gentleman said, ‘We will say Merry Christmas again?’” she said pointing at the president. “And so what a Christmas present.”
King, a stalwart Christian anti-abortion conservative, is a long-time Trump supporter and is often seen at his side when he is specifically trying to reach out to African-Americans.
She, along with HUD Secretary Ben Carson, visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture with Trump in 2017.
She was onboard Air Force One earlier this year when Trump signed a measure granting Georgia its first national historic park at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site near downtown Atlanta.
This past February, Trump nominated her to to serve on the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission.
"I do not believe President Donald John Trump is a racist. The economy's up. Jobs are up in the black community," she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last January, predicting the crime bill. "There is great promise to get a lot of people who have been unfairly incarcerated out."
On Friday, according to White House pool reports, the Atlanta resident and niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. also used the signing as an opportunity to lobby for the wall, using Biblical references as a guide.
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“A long time ago there were two leaders – Ezra and Nehemiah – and they had to build a wall,” King said.
She said there were “some guys,” including Tobiah, “who were just all kinds of talking trash” about it.
“And so the leaders said, ‘We’re not coming down off this wall.’ So please: do-not-come-down-off-the-wall!” she said, emphasizing each syllable with a hand clap.
Credit: Pool
Credit: Pool
Attendees laughed and applauded King.
In her remarks, she also recalled a “long hot summer” when some “bad words” were said about President Trump as he pursued prison reform.
“So we want to say thank you, for caring about all Americans,” she stated. “And one more point: They asked this man when he was a candidate, ‘What are you going to do about race? And racism?’ ”
She said that Trump replied, “We need for people to be safe, secure, blessed, working if they need to.”
“And so I just want to say, thank you, you keep your promises. So keep going, sir!” she said to applause.
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