USA TODAY International Edition
Trump lashes out at Rep. Lewis
Congressman said the president- elect is not “legitimate” U. S. leader,
President- elect Donald Trump, in a Twitter outburst Saturday morning over Rep. John Lewis’ comment that he does not see Trump as a legitimate president, said the Georgia Democrat should spend more time trying to fix his “horrible” and “crime- infested” district than complaining about the election results.
The reaction was swift. Democrats, celebrities and even some Republicans weighed in.
“John Lewis and his ‘ talk’ have changed the world,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R.- Neb., tweeted with a link to a photo of Lewis in 1965, when he was badly beaten during a voting rights march at the Selma, Ala., bridge.
Rep. Kevin Yoder, R- Kan., said he disagrees with Lewis’ questioning of the presidential election but said Lewis is a “hero & icon.” “He deserves all of our respect,” Yoder said in a tweet. “He’s earned it.”
On Friday, Lewis said he would skip Trump’s inauguration next week as an act of protest.
Lewis told moderator Chuck Todd of NBC’s Meet the Press in an interview set to air Sunday that he does not see Trump as a “legiti- mate president.”
“I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton,” Lewis said. “I don’t plan to attend the inauguration.”
Trump punched back with two tweets criticizing Lewis’ representation of Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, which includes most of Atlanta.
He tweeted: “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. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!”
Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele had some concise advice for Trump.
“No. 1, don’t tweet that. No. 2, don’t go there,” he said on MSNBC, adding that the attacks were “unnecessary” and “unfortunate.”
In his interview, Lewis, who has been in Congress for 30 years, said Friday’s inauguration will be the first he has missed as a congressman.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D- Ariz., also will skip the inauguration.
“My absence is not motivated by disrespect for the office or motivated by disrespect for the government that we have in this great democracy,” Grijalva said during a speech on the House floor Friday. “An individual act, yes, of defiance at the disrespect shown to millions and millions of Americans by this incoming administration and by the actions we’re taking in this Congress.”
Grijalava said he’ll be in Arizona meeting with constituents, including senior citizens, environmental and climate change activists, immigrants and health care providers.
He said those groups would be the first to feel the impact of Trump’s actions.
“So it’s good to be in the community talking about these things on Inauguration Day,” he told USA TODAY. “Knowing that this is the reality and me being at the inauguration when I think that my time ... is better spent being with the constituents who keep me in office and help me.”
He said he wasn’t questioning the peaceful transition of power, but respecting the people unhappy with the situation.
“I’m not second- guessing, I’m not whining. What I’m saying is respect is a two- way street and I want to respect the constituents that feel left out right now,” Grijalva said.
California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee said that while she would attend Trump’s State of the Union Address in the future, she would not be at the inauguration. Lee said the inauguration is a celebratory event and “I cannot celebrate and applaud” Trump over the things he has said.
At least four other House members, all Democrats, have said they won’t attend.
“John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape... ”
President- elect Donald Trump