Lewis: ‘Almost impossible for me’ to work with Trump

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said in an interview broadcast Sunday that it would be “almost impossible” for him to work with President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office.

“It’s going to be very hard and very difficult. Almost impossible for me to work with him,” Lewis, a prominent civil rights leader in the 1960s, said in an interview with NBC News’s Chuck Todd.

Todd questioned Lewis about a scenario where Trump called him up and asked to consider working with him.

{mosads}”I would say, ‘Mr. President, Mr. Trump, it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be tough,'” Lewis responded.

His remarks in the pre-taped interview came before Trump tweeted Saturday evening and suggested the pair work together in focusing on the nation’s inner cities.

Trump has courted prominent African-Americans such as entertainer Steve Harvey, who visited Trump Tower on Friday, to focus on the issue. Trump also tapped retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

“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 tweeted Saturday evening.

Trump’s tweet came in response to backlash from various lawmakers over his attack earlier in the day that Lewis was “all talk” and “no action.” Trump’s response sparked a barrage of denunciations from Democratic lawmakers who came to Lewis’s defense.

The war of words kicked off on Friday when a portion of Lewis’s “Meet the Press” interview was released, where the House Democrat said he wouldn’t attend Trump’s inauguration and didn’t view him as a “legitimate president.” Lewis pointed to Russian-backed hacking leading up to Trump’s electoral win.

Trump fired back at Lewis on Saturday, tweeting that the lawmaker should spend more time focusing on his “crime infested” district.

“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!” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.