NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Donald Trump tore into civil rights legend John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaire’s White House victory, intensifying a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and as the first African-American president prepares to leave office.
Trump tweeted on Saturday that Lewis, D-Ga., “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.”
Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017
mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017
The incoming president added: “All talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!”
Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, suffered a skull fracture during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than a half-century ago and has devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.
For many African-Americans the contrast between this inauguration and Barack Obama’s first one, in 2009, was striking.
The 16-term congressman said Friday that he would not attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol this coming Friday, and that it would be the first time he had skipped an inauguration since joining Congress three decades ago.
“You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” Lewis said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that is set to air Sunday.
“I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton,” Lewis said.
Lewis’ spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Trump and said the lawmaker’s “opinion speaks for itself.”
“We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election,” she said.
U. S. intelligence agencies have said Russia meddled in the election to help Trump win. After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats. But he also emphasized that “there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.”
Democrat Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Trump but lost the Electoral College vote.
Lewis’ Democratic colleagues quickly came to his defense Saturday. At least 10 others have also vowed to boycott the inauguration ceremony.
“Let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed,” tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Ahead of #MLKday2017 , let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed.
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) January 14, 2017
The Democratic Party of Georgia called on Trump to apologize to Lewis and the people of his district.
“It is disheartening that Trump would rather sing the praises of Vladimir Putin than Georgia’s own living social justice legend and civil rights icon,” state party spokesman Michael Smith said.
“John Lewis is an American hero,” Rep. David Cicilline, D-R. I., said in a tweet directed at Trump. “You’re a fake billionaire who won’t release his taxes. Put down Twitter and get serious about governing.”
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N. J., piled on Saturday, drawing comparisons to the president-elect’s treatment of the outgoing president at times.
Anyone who attacks @repjohnlewis loses legitimacy in my eyes, especially someone who made such a craven effort to delegitmize @BarackObama
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 14, 2017
“Anyone who attacks @repjohnlewis loses legitimacy in my eyes, especially someone who made such a craven effort to delegitimize @BarackObama,” he tweeted.
New York Congressman Jerry Nadler told WCBS 880’s Mike Smeltz that he found Trump’s response “disgusting.”
“When someone holding the moral high ground that John Lewis does says what he said, it’s really incumbent on Trump to his conduct to prove him wrong,” Nadler said. “To just slam him and say he’s a terrible person or something, it’s disgusting.”
Also Saturday, Rev. Al Sharpton held a rally to protect Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream and President Barack Obama’s legacy, drawing at least 1,000 people. Ninety-nine groups, both for and against Trump, have permits to demonstrate on the day he becomes president.
Trump continues to use Twitter to attack his adversaries, just as he did throughout the campaign.
Trump’s assertion that Lewis’ district is “falling apart” and “crime infested” is hard to prove.
Georgia’s 5th Congressional District includes the Atlanta metro region, which has a large African-American population. The district is considered one of the nation’s fastest growing areas, but its crime and poverty rates are higher than the national average.
The district has an 8.2 percent unemployment rate and the median household income is about $48,000, according to the Census Bureau.
The area also covers part of the upscale Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead, along with the headquarters for Fortune 500 companies such Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, Emory University, Georgia Tech, several historically black colleges and universities and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world’s busiest.
(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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Twenty Democratic lawmakers now say they are skipping Donald Trump ‘s inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, a number that grew Saturday after the president-elect dismissed a congressman who is a civil rights icon as «all talk. »
Some Democrats had said they were boycotting the event prior to Saturday, but more Democratic members of the House said they would not attend after Trump in a series of tweets attacked Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who a day earlier said he doesn’t see Trump as a «legitimate president» due to alleged Russian interference in the election.
Trump dismissed Lewis, a Freedom Rider who was beaten during a 1965 march in Selma and was arrested and jailed repeatedly in opposition to segregation, as «all talk, talk — no action or results. »
The attack, coming just days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, seem to have energized a number of Lewis’ fellow Democratic lawmakers, as they joined his boycott of the inauguration after Trump’s tweet storm.
Below are the Democratic lawmakers who do not plan on attending.
The Arizona Congressman stood in the House Chamber and explained Friday that he would not remain in Washington, D. C. for the inauguration.
«My absence is not motivated by disrespect for the office, or motivated by disrespect for the government that we have in this great democracy,» Grijalva said. «But as an individual act — yes, of defiance — at the disrespect shown to millions and millions of Americans by this incoming administration, and by the actions we are taking here in this Congress. »
Grijalva plans to spend the day at home, meeting with constituents he believes will be affected by President-elect Trump’s administration.
«Donald Trump has proven that his administration will normalize the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party,» said Rep. Barbara Lee in a statement, an 18-year veteran of Congress. «On Inauguration Day, I will not be celebrating. I will be organizing and preparing for resistance. »
Lee cited concerns over Russian hacking and a «divisive and prejudiced campaign,» alleging that the president had normalized bigotry and appointed a white nationalist — former Breitbart Executive Chair Steve Bannon — as his chief strategist. Bannon has denied being a white nationalist.
Congressman Ted Lieu said in a statement that Trump would be in violation of the Constitution when he takes office next week because of his many alleged conflicts of interest. Lieu said he would oppose Trump when necessary and work with him when possible, but he believed the president-elect went too far when he attacked Lewis.
«For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple,» Lieu said. «Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis. »
Lewis sat down for an exclusive interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd on Friday and explained that he did not consider Trump’s presidency as legitimate because of Russian interference.
«That’s not right. That’s not fair. That’s not the democratic process,» Lewis said about the alleged Russian hacking, which U. S. intelligence officials believe was to help Trump get elected and to discredit Hillary Clinton.
Lewis said he could not attend the president-elect’s inauguration in good conscience, a view that has gained support since Trump attacked Lewis’ leadership and performance on Twitter in response.
«You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong,» Lewis said.
This is the first time Lewis has not attended the inauguration since he entered Congress 30 years ago.
«I could not look at my wife, my daughters or my grandson in the eye if I sat there and attended as if everything that candidate Donald Trump had said about The women, about The Latinos, or The Blacks, The Muslims or any of the other things he said in his speeches and Tweets — that any of that is OK or erased from my memory,» the congressman said in a Jan. 10 statement.
Rep. John Conyers, the dean of the House of Representatives, will not attend the inauguration, his office told CNN on Saturday. A reason was not reported.
A member of the St. Louis-area congressional delegation, Rep. William Lacy Clay will not attend Trump’s inauguration. His spokesman, Steve Engelhard, told the Post-Dispatch that he would «be back home in St. Louis speaking to school kids» instead.
«Many have given their lives and dedicated their lives to working to fulfill Dr. King’s dream and make it a reality, and it is up to us to preserve his legacy and the legacy of President Barack Obama to ensure that we do not go back in time!,» Espaillat wrote in a post on his Facebook page on Saturday.
«President-elect Donald Trump is trying to take us back! And the people Trump is appointing- Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions — are trying to take us back!
That’s why I am not attending the presidential inauguration. Donald Trump and the hate-filled rhetoric that plagued his election simply will continue in his administration.
THIS is not Dr. King’s Dream! »
Congressman Blumenauer told Oregon Public Broadcasting that this would be the first inauguration he’s missed since he entered Congress two decades ago. He will attend events protesting the president-elect instead.
The 15-term Congressman will not attend the ceremony, but he typically avoids the inauguration. The congressman told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he doesn’t like to attend the «pomp and circumstance events in Washington. »
«I’ll do my best to work with him when I think he’s doing the right thing for the country,» Schrader told OPB. «But he hasn’t proved himself to me at all yet, so I respectfully decline to freeze my ass out there in the cold for this particular ceremony. »
Schrader plans to attend an Oregon event in opposition of Trump.

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Vice President-elect Mike Pence said he found Rep. John Lewis’s criticism of President-elect Donald Trump “deeply disappointing” — and that Mr. Trump, who lambasted Lewis on Twitter this weekend, “has every right to defend himself.”
“Donald Trump won this election fair and square, 30 out of 50 states, including Georgia,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “… To hear John Lewis — a man that I served with, that I respect — to question the legitimacy of the election and to say that Donald Trump will not be a legitimate president was deeply disappointing to me.”
“To hear that he was not going to attend the inauguration this Friday — I hope he reconsiders both statements,” Pence said.
Lewis, in an interview with NBC last week, said he did not plan to attend the inauguration this Friday — his first time missing the ceremony in three decades — and questioned Mr. Trump’s legitimacy as president.
“I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” he said. “I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”
In response, Mr. Trump said Lewis — one of the most visible members of the Civil Rights Movement — is “all talk, talk — no action or results,” and said Lewis’s Georgia district is “crime infested” and “falling apart.”
Why, moderator John Dickerson, did Mr. Trump feel the need to take a swing at Lewis rather than just letting the comments go?
Mr. Trump “has every right to defend himself,” Pence said, suggesting that Lewis’s comments about election legitimacy seemingly conflict with his status as a leader for voting rights.
“We honor the sacrifice that he made but part of the result of what happened on Bloody Sunday [in 1965] and the courage that he showed was the Voting Rights Act,” he said. “So for someone of his stature not just in the civil rights movement but in voting rights to make a comment that he did not consider Donald Trump to be a legitimate president, I think, is deeply disappointing.”

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