Article in The Nation by Malaika Jabali, 1/20/24

Headline:  “In 2025, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Economic Populism Is More Relevant Than Ever”

Subhead:  “The political media calls Trump a “populist.” But as Dr. King made clear in a 1965 speech, American populism was a movement against everything Trump stands for.”

“The name ‘Donald Trump’ and the word ‘populism’ have become so intertwined you would think the latter was invented by Trump’s MAGA movement itself. In one 24-hour period, just days before the reelected president’s inauguration, the political media published nearly a dozen articles linking Trump to populism. Even a Japanese outlet made the connection in an op-ed last week: ‘Tune in to American populists,’ the headline reads, referring to the group of mostly white ‘working and middle classes’ who sent Trump to office.

“But the Trump-spawned political rage that the mainstream media likens to ‘populism’ erases the real origins of the idea. This year, on the birthday of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., it’s more important than ever to remember that populism is a political philosophy that’s closer to King’s vision than to MAGA’s.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/mlk-economic-populism/