Detroit Pastor Lorenzo Sewell delivered a prayer on Monday at the close of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, quoting extensively from Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
His remarks, with some phrases lifted almost directly from King’s original words, resonated particularly on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a significant occasion honoring the civil rights leader’s birthday and recognized as a federal holiday. Sewell, the pastor of 180 Church in west Detroit, kicked off his remarks by thanking God for what he called Trump’s “millimeter miracle.” This was likely a nod to the bullet that narrowly missed the president’s ear during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, back in mid-July.
Though some people feel like the speech was powerful, others on social media feel like a different way. One X user weighed in on topic and shared, “Wow, didn’t expect the presidential inauguration to end with a minstrel show. Lorenzo Sewell is an embarrassment to himself, his family, and our nation.” Another person added, “Pastor Lorenzo Sewell is embarrassing. I’m about to literally vomit.”
Sewell prayed that God would use the country’s president and prayed that Americans can “live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.”
“We are so grateful today that you will use our 47th president so we will sing with new meaning, ‘My country tis of thee,’” Sewell said, before quoting almost directly from the last three paragraphs of King’s address.
