Trump Kicks Off MLK Day Weekend By Trashing Civil Rights Icon John Lewis On Twitter

Getty Image

Donald Trump is no stranger to picking questionable fights with people after they’ve criticized him. Many thought the president-elect had hit a low point when he decided to take on the Gold Star family of Captain Humayun S. M. Khan after their appearance at the Democratic National Convention, but he may have hit a new low after setting his sights on civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis to kickstart MLK Day weekend.

The president-elect voiced his displeasure with Lewis on Twitter following a preview for an interview with the congressman on Meet The Press claiming Trump was an “illegitimate” president due to his alleged connections to Russia:

This criticism of Lewis by the incoming president sparked an immediate outrage online and in D.C., with some like Rep. Brendan Boyle and Sen. Ben Sasse admonishing Trump’s for his comments:

Many others pointed to Lewis’ actions during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists to combat Trump’s claim that the congressman was “all talk, talk, talk” and no action:

https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/820277206215786496

There’s also a healthy amount of people who were quick to highlight Trump’s incorrect claims about Lewis’ district in Atlanta:

The one thing that does stand out about those that Trump has attacked publicly, either on Twitter or on one of the various stages during his campaign, is where they typically stand within public opinion. As The Guardian’s Spencer Ackerman points out, Trump has managed to attack two members of Congress that people will freely call hero without a thought.

And the list extends out further than that since Trump decided to run for president back in 2015, with one absence that sticks out for a lot of people:

https://twitter.com/allenjuka/status/820290039875772416

Rep. Lewis has not commented on the criticism from the president-elect, but he likely doesn’t have to. His record and his supporters have made his case for him.

UPDATE: Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Rep. Lewis with another tweet following the outrage from earlier: