Civil rights icon and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) has made no secret of his lack of Trump fandom, even going so far to say that he is not a “legitimate president.” Lewis previously stated that he would find it difficult to work alongside Trump, which isn’t difficult to understand after the president tweet-trashed Lewis during this year’s MLK weekend. Lewis later stated that he would never invite Trump to visit Selma, Alabama with him, and the congressman has now announced that he won’t attend Saturday’s opening event at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum because Trump will be there.
Lewis — who called Trump’s attendance at the event “an insult” — is joined in his decision by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who stated, “President Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum.” The two lawmakers, while citing Trump’s stance on NFL protests and his statements about women, feel that they simply cannot support Trump’s presence at the museum, which is a tribute to “Mississippi [as] ground zero for the national Civil Rights Movement.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has already issued a statement in response to Lewis’ stance. She called it “unfortunate” that Lewis and Thompson have decided not to “join the president in honoring the incredible sacrifice civil rights leaders made to right the injustices in our history.” Sanders also says that Trump wishes that members of Congress would help him honor “the movement was about removing barriers and unifying Americans.”