Silke Jasso
For the past week, the news cycles have been dominated by the ongoing feud between Congressmen John Lewis (D-GA) and President-elect Donald Trump. It began with a “Meet The Press” interview in which Lewis said that the evidence of Russian hacking makes Trump an “illegitimate president.”
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RELATED: Rep. John Lewis shares how he remembers his friend, Dr. King on the day he is celebrated
The president-elect hit back on Twitter, saying that Lewis should spend more time fixing his district.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820251730407473153
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820255947956383744
The president-elect’s “all talk” sentiment caused a lot of backlash. Lewis has a long history of fighting for civil rights and was beaten by police on “Bloody Sunday” in 1965.
.@realDonaldTrump Oh dear lord, honey, it's MLK weekend and this is John Lewis on the far right. Hand over your Twitter to a nice aide. pic.twitter.com/GTsaYW0UZS
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) January 14, 2017
President Obama has stayed noticeably silent about the feud, seemingly trying to ease tensions that are already at a boiling point with the incoming president. Congressman Lewis has said that he will not attend the inauguration and a number of Democratic lawmakers have pledged to boycott Trump’s swearing in.
I will NOT attend the inauguration of @realDonaldTrump. When you insult @repjohnlewis, you insult America.
— Yvette D. Clarke (@RepYvetteClarke) January 14, 2017
"All talk, no action."
I stand with @repjohnlewis and I will not be attending the inauguration. pic.twitter.com/z8Q0wA9OPK
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) January 14, 2017
RELATED: Donald Trump has hit a Twitter milestone but Kanye, Kim and President Obama still have him beat
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Trump tweeted that Americans should celebrate MLK:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820992721120854016
Many have pointed out the only one of Trump’s 34.3k other tweets that mentions the civil rights leader:
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/821047341667024900
Congressman Lewis also tweeted about his friend MLK.
He went to jail for us. #goodtrouble pic.twitter.com/saHB1WsfbV
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) January 16, 2017
Even though President Obama has been silent, the outgoing First Lady finally made her support for Lewis known, comparing him to MLK on Monday.
Thinking of Dr. King and great leaders like @repjohnlewis who carry on his legacy. May their example be our call to action. -mo
— First Lady- Archived (@FLOTUS44) January 16, 2017
The tweet is signed “-mo”, which indicates that it came directly from Michelle rather than from one of the White House staffers. Democrats have been hoping that the FLOTUS will throw her hat in the ring for the 2020 election even though she has said several times that she has no intention of running. In December, when The Hill ranked the top 15 Democratic contenders for 2020, the political website claimed that “there is no figure in public life, with the possible exception of her husband, who has so strong a hold on liberal hearts and minds.”
