White House Defends King Quote on Oval Office Rug

WASHINGTON - A White House official says it's not a mistake to attribute a quotation that's part of the new rug in the Oval Office to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

President Barack Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, says King did indeed speak the words in question, though King himself was inspired by a 19th-century Boston abolitionist and religious leader, Thomas Parker.

The wheat, cream and blue rug made its debut in the Oval Office last week. It features the presidential seal in the center and quotations from famous Americans around the border.

Describing the rug, a White House statement credited King for the words: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Over the weekend, Washington Post writer Jamie Stiehm pointed out that the words actually go back to Parker.