Trump: Lewis should help me work on inner cities

President-elect Donald Trump responded to backlash over his attack on Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on Saturday evening, suggesting the pair work together to focus on the nation’s inner cities.

“Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!” Trump wrote.

Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017

Trump’s tweet came after a number of Democratic and some Republican lawmakers condemned him on Saturday for saying that Lewis was “all talk” and “no action.”

{mosads}The president-elect had slammed Lewis in tweets early Saturday after the Democratic lawmaker said he would skip Trump’s inauguration, saying he didn’t view Trump as a “legitimate president.”

“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 tweeted early Saturday.

Trump raised the issue of inner cities during the campaign. In August, he compared the nation’s inner cities to war zones, declaring during a campaign stop in Ohio, “The Democrats have failed completely in the inner cities.”

“For those hurting the most, who have been failed and failed by their politicians, year after year, failure after failure, worse numbers after worse numbers, poverty, rejection, horrible education, no houses, no homes, no ownership, crime at levels that nobody has seen. You could go to war zones in countries that we’re fighting and it’s safer than living in some of our inner cities that are run by the Democrats,” he said.

Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, has also spoken of his desire to help struggling communities. He testified Thursday in front of the Senate Banking Committee as part of his confirmation process.

Updated: 8:24 p.m.