Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) rejected President Obama’s comparison between Martin Luther King Jr. and what he called the “Occupy Wall Street gangs.”
“Martin Luther King Jr. would not have backed these types of protesters,” West said, noting that he was born and raised in King’s neighborhood. “First of all, Martin Luther King, Jr. had a focus, a message. He was divinely inspired. I don’t know what the inspiration is for these individuals.”
Obama last weekend suggested the civil-rights leader would have sympathized with the ongoing demonstrations against Wall Street, indicating both movements sought justice.
West slammed the protest movement as hypocritical and unfocused in comparison to the Tea Party movement in an interview with Newsmax published Tuesday evening.
“I think the hypocrisy of this movement is somewhat laughable,” he said. “[Unemployment] has nothing to do with Wall Street. It has everything to do with the failed policies coming out of the Obama administration.”
West said he is wary of the movement because it seems to want to end capitalism and replace it with something else.
“This progressive movement is really what communists were called back in the 19th, beginning of the 20th century. We’re starting to really see the face of who liberal progressives are,” West said. “I think there is a danger in the people on Capitol Hill starting to embrace this movement.”
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SOURCE: The Hill
Alicia M. Cohn
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