NAACP President Says Donald Trump Should Apologize To John Lewis
President-elect Donald Trump made disparaging remarks on Saturday morning about civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis, NAACP President Cornell Williams is calling for him to apologize.
"By disrespecting @repjohnlewis, @realDonaldTrump dishonored Lewis' sacrifice & demeaned Americans & and the rights, he nearly died 4. Apologize."
Rep. Lewis is respected as a civil rights leader who marched and organized in the 1960s, and for being on the front lines with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during Bloody Sunday - the day on March 7, 1965, when law enforcement attacked unarmed marchers protesting for voting rights on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. He was elected to Congress in 1986.
On Friday, Lewis told NBC News that he didn't see Trump as a "legitimate" president after reports that Russian hackers disseminated news with goals of influencing the presidential election.
"I don't see this President-elect as a legitimate president. I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," adding that he wouldn't be attending Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.
Trump replied on Saturday morning via his medium of choice: Twiter. He said Lewis' district was "in horrible shape" and that the civil rights leader was "all talk, talk, talk - no action or results." His comments enraged many, who pointed out that Trump was insulting a civil rights leader during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.