Yesterday was the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a national holiday in the United States where the legacy of the civil rights icon who marched on Selma is celebrated and rejoiced, and US President Donald Trump spent the day improving his golf game. The President himself had called for the holiday to be marked with “acts of civic work and community service,” and he did just the opposite as he headed down to the golf course for a round or two.

MLK Day traditionally a ‘day of service’ for US Presidents

Every other President of the United States before Donald Trump – including Trump himself, who turned out to be all talk – since 1994 has designated Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day as a “day of service.” The sitting President said he would do that, but he didn’t pencil in any service projects and instead spent the day at his golf club in the Florida town of West Palm Beach. In fact, the only event on the White House’s public schedule was Trump’s flight back to Washington from his golf course.

The reason, perhaps, that Trump sat out the national holiday celebrating the legendary man who fought racism in America is that Trump himself, the President of America, has gotten in trouble recently for making “vile and racist” remarks about Africa, that it’s full of “sh*thole countries.” That’s not exactly in keeping with the spirit of Dr. King.