Students at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va, have raised concerns this week about the administration’s choice of Presidential candidate Donald Trump as the Martin Luther King Day speaker on campus. President Jerry Fallwell, Jr., defended the University’s decision, saying that Trump stands for the principle that people should not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. “Liberty stands for that principle and I believe Mr. Trump does as well, ” Fallwell told Lynchburg’s News & Advance.
As the “content of character” is invariably difficult to measure, we accepted the invitation from some Liberty students to fact check Trump and Dr. King against the Red Letters of Jesus.
Jesus on the poor:
“Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20)
Martin Luther King, Jr. on the poor:
“If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she too will go to hell.”
Donald Trump on the poor:
We are a country that is being beaten on every front economically. We don’t win anymore. Taxes too high, wages too high, we’re not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. People have to go out, they have to work really hard and have to get into that upper stratosphere.
Jesus on treatment of neighbors:
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)
Martin Luther King on treatment of neighbors:
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Donald Trump on treatment of neighbors:
I will build a great wall – and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me – and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall.