The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King speaks during the Martin Luther King, Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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ATLANTA (AP) - Two of Martin Luther King Jr.'s children and the pastor of his historic Atlanta church marked the national King holiday Monday with sharp denunciations of President Donald Trump, focusing on disparaging remarks he is said to have made about African countries and Haitian immigrants. Angry pro-Haiti protesters and Trump supporters yelled at each other from opposite sides of a street near the president's Florida resort.
At gatherings across the nation, activists, residents and teachers honored the late civil rights leader on what would have been his 89th birthday and ahead of the 50th anniversary of his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. But in the many speeches delivered from pulpits and podiums across the country, Trump's name came up nearly as often as King's, with speakers indicating that his turbulent presidency was undermining efforts to ease racial tensions in the U.S.
The president spent his first Martin Luther King Jr. Day in office buffeted by claims that during a meeting with senators on immigration last week, he used a vulgarity to describe African countries and questioned the need to allow more Haitians into the U.S. He also is said to have asked why the country couldn't have more immigrants from nations like Norway.
In Washington, King's eldest son, Martin Luther King III, criticized Trump, saying, "When a president insists that our nation needs more citizens from white states like Norway, I don't even think we need to spend any time even talking about what it says and what it is."
He added, "We got to find a way to work on this man's heart."
In Atlanta, King's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, told hundreds of people who packed the pews of the Ebenezer Baptist Church that they "cannot allow the nations of the world to embrace the words that come from our president as a reflection of the true spirit of America."
"We are one people, one nation, one blood, one destiny. ... All of civilization and humanity originated from the soils of Africa," Bernice King said. "Our collective voice in this hour must always be louder than the one who sometimes does not reflect the legacy of my father."
Church pastor the Rev. Raphael Warnock also took issue with Trump's campaign slogan to "Make America Great Again."
Warnock said he thinks America "is already great ... in large measure because of Africa and African people."
Down the street from Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Haitian protesters and Trump supporters yelled at each other from opposing corners. Trump was staying at the resort for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Video posted by WPEC-TV showed several hundred pro-Haiti demonstrators yelling from one side of the street Monday while waving Haitian flags. The Haitians and their supporters shouted "Our country is not a shithole," referring to comments the president reportedly made. Trump has said that is not the language he used.
The smaller pro-Trump contingent waved American flags and campaign posters and yelled "Trump is making America great again." One man could be seen telling the Haitians to leave the country. Police kept the sides apart.
Trump dedicated his weekly address to the nation, released Monday, to King.
"Dr. King's dream is our dream, it is the American dream, it's the promise stitched into the fabric of our nation, etched into the hearts of our people and written into the soul of humankind," he said in the address, which he tweeted to his followers. "It is the dream of a world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from."
The president's remarks appeared not to resonate with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who also used the holiday to take aim at the racial rhetoric Trump is said to have used.
"Trump Tower is in the wrong state," Sharpton told a crowd of 200 at the National Action Network in Harlem. He said it was embarrassing that Trump is from New York. "What we're going to do about Donald Trump is going to be the spirit of Martin Luther King Day," he said.
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Associated Press writers Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Lisa J. Adams in Atlanta, contributed to this report.
Debra Harris listens as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King speaks during the Martin Luther King Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Audience members greet one another at the start of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Martin Luther King III, right, with his wife Arndrea Waters, left, and their daughter Yolanda, 9, center, during their visit to the Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. The son of the late U.S. civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., and his family had earlier participated in an event commemorating the life and legacy of his father. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Fiona Deshotel holds her baby, Braydon Whisenhunt while waiting for the start of a parade honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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Lesa Webb of Denver holds a placard as she gathers to take part in the annual parade to mark the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Denver. Marchers gathered with politicians in spite of cold temperatures, a light snow and slippery roads to walk from Denver's City Park to Civic Center Park to note the holiday. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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FILE - In this June 27, 2017 photo, Ronald Smith gets on his bicycle after stopping at the Triple S Food Mart, where Alton Sterling was shot by police one year ago, in Baton Rouge, La. A year later, visitors routinely stop by the store to photograph the mural of Sterling's smiling face on its aluminum siding. Loved ones of Sterling killed by police and two law enforcement officers, one black, one white, ambushed and killed 12 days later in that city will take part in a discussion on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 in Dallas. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
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Priscilla Owens waves a flag and holds up items featuring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during an MLK parade on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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The audience applauds during the Martin Luther King, Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Qeristin Warnick, left, and her sister Makayla look at the program with their grand father Councilman Sam Davis during the Martin Luther King, Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Kayden Gray, 6, holds up a sign before a march to mark the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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Rev. Al Sharpton, left, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo shake hands after Cuomo's remarks at the National Action Network House of Justice, in New York, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. Prominent lawmakers and community leaders took aim at President Donald Trump's racial rhetoric at a New York commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Monday would have been King's 89th birthday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Actors reenact a tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life during the an annual commemorative service to King at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King speaks during the Martin Luther King, Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., center, attends the Martin Luther King, Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (Phil Skinner/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Candy is thrown from a float during a parade honoring slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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A quote from Martin Luther King Jr., is carried during a parade honoring the slain civil rights leader Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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