Washington – Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to criticize civil rights champion John Lewis after the veteran lawmaker said he didn’t consider the president-elect “a legitimate president.”
Trump, who moves into the White House on Friday, accused the 76-year-old Democratic congressman of being “all talk” and not doing enough for his “crime infested” district in the southern state of Georgia.
Lewis was a confidante of the late Martin Luther King Jr and helped to organize the August 1963 march on Washington that pressured Congress to enact a raft of civil rights legislation.
President Barack Obama hugs Rep. John Lewis in this file picture (Credit Image: © Pete Souza/The White House/ZUMAPRESS.com)
He has served in the US House of Representatives since 1987, with his majority-African-American district encompassing much of the Atlanta metro area.
In an interview with NBC set to air on Sunday, Lewis said he believed Russian interference in the election helped get Trump elected.
“I think there was a conspiracy on the part of the Russians, and others, to help him get elected – that’s not right, that’s not fair, that’s not the open, democratic process,” Lewis said.
Lewis added he will not attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Friday.
“Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results,” Trump fired back on Twitter.
“All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!” Trump wrote.
– dpa
