For those of you who had off, I hope you enjoyed Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Two institutions should have sat it out on social media. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is one of them. Before they targeted Trump on political grounds, the bureau actively worked to destroy the life of the late civil rights leader. Yesterday, the FBI posted an image of King’s memorial in DC with the caption, “This #MLKDay, the #FBI honors one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement and reaffirms its commitment to Dr. King’s legacy of fairness and equal justice for all."
This #MLKDay, the #FBI honors one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement and reaffirms its commitment to Dr. King’s legacy of fairness and equal justice for all. pic.twitter.com/tj9EUoXsFK
— FBI (@FBI) January 15, 2024
It got slapped with this community note:
The FBI engaged in surveillance of King, attempted to discredit him, and used manipulation tactics to influence him to stop organizing. King’s family believe the FBI was responsible for his death.
It included links from NPR and CBS News as background. Besides the political class, no one would shed a tear if this agency evaporated into vapor tomorrow. Still, it’s a win for America when the FBI gets spit on and slapped.
Spencer wrote about the Biden White House’s faceplant on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The president’s social media team lied in their post about the late civil rights leader, saying that Biden handpicked the bust, adding the caption, “as a reflection of President Biden's promise to America: to restore the soul of America, to rebuild this country from the bottom up and the middle out, and to unite it.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s bust sits inside the Oval Office — handpicked by President Biden — as a reflection of President Biden's promise to America: to restore the soul of America, to rebuild this country from the bottom up and the middle out, and to unite it. pic.twitter.com/g1cVzccWb4
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 15, 2024
The @FBI honors MLK pic.twitter.com/fMbzDhx1v5
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) January 15, 2024
Community note never disappoints
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) January 15, 2024
There's a problem though. Instead of merely highlighting the bust and acknowledging the holiday, the White House had to make the claim that Biden had "handpicked" the bust to somehow reflect his agenda. That's just not true. Not only has the Biden agenda flopped spectacularly and divided the country, earning the president underwater approval ratings and causing significant pain for Americans, but Biden did not choose the bust for the Oval Office.
As the Washington Post reported at the start of Biden's term, "[b]usts of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy flank a fireplace" in Biden's Oval Office. The MLK bust first came to the Oval under President Obama, one that "Trump kept, though he moved it to a different area of the room," WaPo noted in early 2021.
It's MLK Day, Biden White House. It’s an easy day, as federal employees are off, and you still have mud on your face.
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