Silke Jasso
Rep John Lewis (D-GA) and President-elect Donald Trump have engaged in a war of words in the last few days, with Rep. Lewis stating he would sit out the 2017 presidential inauguration, his first such decision as a congressman. In an interview with NBC, Lewis said that he didn’t consider Trump to be a legitimate president.
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Trump responded on Twitter on Saturday morning, classifying Lewis as an “all talk” politician who needed to focus on his own “crime infested” district that was “falling apart” and in “horrible shape.”
RELATED: Hours after John Lewis called Trump an illegitimate president, the president-elect fired back
“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 wrote on Twitter.
Many members of the media and legislative bodies responded negatively to Trump’s tweets and reminded Trump that Lewis represents the Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District, a prosperous metropolitan area. As far as being “all talk,” many reminded the president-elect that Lewis had quite literally shed blood for his country as an integral figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
As many expected, the future President of the United States would need to get the final word in and decided to do so on Saturday night.
Trump did not mention the many examples of Lewis‘ accomplishments that had been bandied about all of Saturday, and instead, pivoted to a comment on street crime.
“Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S,” Trump said. “I can use all the help I can get!”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820425770925338624
On Saturday, many Republicans struggled to defend the president-elect, and several went so far as to condemn his critique of Lewis.
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska publicly volleyed for Lewis to attend the inauguration and posted links about the congressman’s accomplishments.
John Lewis and his "talk" have changed the world.https://t.co/qeUloAkeTx https://t.co/aH2vDLjKk9
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) January 14, 2017
RELATED: Trump said that John Lewis’ district was in “horrible shape,” but Georgians may disagree
