Biden pays his respects to John Lewis at the Capitol

Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, visited the Capitol on Monday to pay their respects to the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) as he lay in state in the Rotunda. 

The Bidens were accompanied by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as they approached Lewis’s flag-draped coffin. The couple then placed their hands over their hearts in a sign of respect to the late civil rights icon. 

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee later put his hand on Lewis’s coffin.  

Former VP Joe Biden touches the flag draped on Rep. Lewis’ casket pic.twitter.com/ntLXQm4ElV

— Tia Mitchell, AJC’s Washington Correspondent (@ajconwashington) July 27, 2020

Lewis died on July 17 at the age of 80 after a battle with cancer.

“We are made in the image of God, and then there is John Lewis,” Joe Biden said in a statement at the time. “How could someone in flesh and blood be so courageous, so full of hope and love in the face of so much hate, violence, and vengeance?”

Biden, a former senator from Delaware, served with Lewis in Congress during the lawmaker’s 34-year tenure and wrote that it is “rare to meet and befriend our heroes.”

The former congressman had endorsed Biden’s presidential bid a couple of months before he died. 

“It is my belief that we need Joe Biden now more than ever before,” Lewis said in a call with reporters in April.

“We need his voice. We need his leadership now more than ever before,” he continued. “We need someone who is going to get our country on the right side of history and help save our planet.”

Biden’s visit comes hours after President Trump, who traveled to North Carolina on Monday to highlight progress on a coronavirus vaccine, told reporters that he would not be visiting the Capitol personally while Lewis lies in state. 

Vice President Pence and second lady Karen Pence are expected to pay their respects at the Capitol on Monday evening.