Trump: Lewis ‘wrong’ to say it’s his first boycott
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday revived his Twitter war with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), accusing him of lying when Lewis said he hasn’t boycotted inaugurations in the past.
“John Lewis said about my inauguration, ‘It will be the first one that I’ve missed.’ WRONG (or lie)!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
John Lewis said about my inauguration, “It will be the first one that I’ve missed.” WRONG (or lie)! He boycotted Bush 43 also because he…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017
“thought it would be hypocritical to attend Bush’s swearing-in….he doesn’t believe Bush is the true elected president.” Sound familiar! WP
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017
“It will be the first one that I miss since I’ve been in Congress,” Lewis said. “You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right.”
According to a Washington Post article from 2001, Lewis did not attend George W. Bush’s 2001 inauguration, instead choosing to spend the day in his Atlanta district. The “WP” at the end of Trump’s tweets appear to be a reference to the Post.
Trump on Saturday morning fired at Lewis via Twitter, calling him “all talk” and “no action.”
Lawmakers rushed to Lewis’s defense, noting his legacy as a civil rights activist. Lewis was a key civil rights leader in the 1960s as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He was beaten by police officers at the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 1965, which became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
More than 50 Democratic lawmakers have announced they won’t attend Trump’s inauguration in the aftermath of his attack on Lewis. The Hill is keeping a running list.
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