During a tense House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Jasmine Crockett criticized Republicans for using Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, Alveda King, as a political prop to shield the GOP from accusations of racism while questioning the Southern Poverty Law Center’s funding practices.
Crockett, a Texas Democrat, accused the Republican-controlled committee of inviting King specifically to confuse the public about the civil rights icon’s legacy. “The vast majority on that side of the aisle are White men,” Crockett said during the June 9 hearing. “White men are lecturing people of color because the vast majority, actually any semblance of diversity comes from this side of the aisle. That’s why you have to parade someone who has the name ‘Doctor King’ attached to them so people can be confused,” according to Fox News.
Crockett argued that Republicans would be better served inviting Martin Luther King III or his sister Bernice King, suggesting they better understood the civil rights icon’s teachings than Alveda King, whose views align more closely with conservative positions.
King, who serves as chair of the America First Policy Institute, responded directly. “I am a bit emotional,” King said of Crockett’s remarks. “I am legitimately the daughter of Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King and Dr. Naomi Ruth Barber King,” she stated, clarifying her family connection to the King legacy. Rev. A.D. King was Martin Luther King Jr.’s brother. King added, “We are a family who loves God. And I love you, God bless you,” before yielding the floor.
The hearing came as the SPLC faces federal criminal charges. In April 2026, the Justice Department indicted the organization on fraud and money laundering allegations, accusing it of misleading donors by paying informants to infiltrate extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, according to NPR and the Department of Justice. Republicans have long criticized the SPLC for what they characterize as partisan targeting of conservative organizations.
At the June 9 hearing titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate, Part II,” Republican lawmakers sharply questioned SPLC leadership over the allegations. Crockett, however, turned the focus on the GOP’s tactics, accusing Republicans of hypocrisy on racial matters and attempting to distract from other failures. She cited Trump’s 2017 comments about “fine people on both sides” at a Charlottesville rally, though she omitted his later clarification that he was referring to a community group opposing a statue’s removal, not the neo-Nazi demonstrators.
Rep. Wesley Hunt, a fellow Black Texan and Republican, was present during the hearing and had questioned SPLC leader Bryan Fair earlier. Crockett left the hearing before King could substantively respond to her remarks, as noted by Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., who gave King the opportunity to address the claims.
Sources
- Fox News — Full transcript and video of Crockett’s remarks and King’s response at the June 9, 2026 SPLC hearing
- NPR — Reporting on the April 2026 Justice Department indictment of the SPLC on fraud charges related to paid informants
- Department of Justice — Official indictment document detailing allegations against the SPLC
- ABC News — Coverage of Republican accusations that the SPLC was “manufacturing hate” during the June 9 hearing
