Trump Rips John Lewis For Not Attending His Inauguration When Asked About His Legacy: ‘I Don’t Know John Lewis’

By KJ Edelman Aug 4th, 2020

President Donald Trump ripped John Lewis for not attending his inauguration in 2017 several times when Axios’ Jonathan Swan asked the president how history will remember the civil rights activist and Georgia congressman.

“How do you think history will remember John Lewis?” Swan asked during his almost 40-minute interview with the president.

“I don’t know,” Trump responded. “I really don’t know. I don’t know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. He chose — I never met John Lewis, actually.”

Trump notably did not attend Lewis’ six-day funeral, which had two days of ceremonies in Washington D.C. Trump repeatedly criticized Lewis during his presidency, attacking his district and the congressman for disapproving Trump’s rise to office in 2016. On July 17, Trump tweeted, “Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing. Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family.”

“Do you find him impressive?” Swan asked.

“Uh, I can’t say one way or another,” Trump said. “I find a lot of people impressive. I find many people not impressive. But no—”

“Do you find his story impressive?” Swan asked again.

“He didn’t come to my inauguration,” Trump repeated. “He didn’t come to my State of the Union speeches. And that’s OK, that’s his right. Again, nobody has done more for the Black Americans than I have. He should’ve come. I think he made a big mistake.”

“But taking your relationship with him out of it,” Swan said. “Do you find his story impressive, what he’s done for this country?”

“He was a person who devoted a lot of energy and a lot of heart to civil rights but there were many others also,” Trump said.

Watch via Axios.
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-rips-john-lewis-for-not-attending-his-inauguration-when-asked-about-his-legacy-i-dont-know-john-lewis/