Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) said on Monday that many of the policy issues that President Obama has faced while in office were "forecast" by Martin Luther King Jr.
"I believe that so much of what President Obama has confronted was sort of forecast by Martin Luther King Jr.," said Clyburn on CNN's "Starting Point."
Clyburn, speaking on the morning of Obama's second inauguration — which for the second time coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day — told CNN that the first-term healthcare legislation was an example of King's foresight.
"To me one of the most important speeches ever made by King had to do with healthcare. And he said in that speech, of all of the injustices that exist in America, the most egregious of all was the lack of healthcare," Clyburn said.
The South Carolina lawmaker said he has seen "big steps" towards progress in the United States since the days of King, but that there are "many, many steps left to go."
Clyburn also reacted to a White House photo that was released earlier this month, which
gained attention and some criticism for featuring the president in Oval Office with mostly white, male advisers.
"I've seen that photo and a lot of us were bothered by it, not so much because of the photo itself, because those of us that have worked with the White House, we know that was one snapshot that did not really depict the White House on substance, but symbolically we have to be very, very aware that people all over the world are watching these things and I think that we are going to have to make sure that the programs measure up the the promise," he said.
On Sunday, senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, who is partially shown in the photo, defended the president and predicted more minorities and women would be chosen or positions in the president’s Cabinet.
“His Cabinet, when he's finished — and he's far from finished — will have diversity, including women, including people of color,” said Jarrett in an interview with CNN.
