John Lewis

==== 2016 presidential election ====
[[File:Atlanta Womens March John Lewis.jpg|thumb|John Lewis at the [[2017 Women's March]] in Atlanta]]
Lewis supported [[Hillary Clinton]] in the [[2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2016 Democratic presidential primaries]] against [[Bernie Sanders]]. Regarding Sanders' role in the [[civil rights movement]], Lewis remarked "To be very frank, I never saw him, I never met him. I chaired the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] for three years, from 1963 to 1966. I was involved in sit-ins, in the [[Freedom Riders|Freedom Rides]], the [[March on Washington]], the March from Selma to Montgomery&nbsp;... but I met Hillary Clinton". Former Congressman and Hawaii Governor [[Neil Abercrombie]] wrote a letter to Lewis expressing his disappointment with Lewis's comments about Sanders. Lewis later clarified his statement, saying "During the late 1950s and 1960s when I was more engaged, [Sanders] was not there. I did not see him around. I have never seen him in the South. But if he was there, if he was involved someplace, I was not aware of it&nbsp;... The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2016/02/13/rep-lewis-softens-dismissal-sanders/80344896/ |title=Rep. Lewis softens dismissal of Sanders |date=February 13, 2016 |first=Meg |last=Kinnard |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[Burlington Free Press]] |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013515/https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2016/02/13/rep-lewis-softens-dismissal-sanders/80344896/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/after-2008-flip-flop-john-lewis-barnstorms-hard-for-clinton-campaign-219307 |title=Hillary Clinton's secret weapon: John Lewis |first=Patrick |last=Temple-West |date=February 15, 2016 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503064320/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/after-2008-flip-flop-john-lewis-barnstorms-hard-for-clinton-campaign-219307 |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=John Lewis: I did not mean to 'disparage' Bernie Sanders' civil rights activism|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=February 13, 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/13/john-lewis-congressional-black-caucus-bernie-sanders-civil-rights-movement|access-date=August 25, 2020|archive-date=February 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214131350/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/13/john-lewis-congressional-black-caucus-bernie-sanders-civil-rights-movement|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a January 2016 interview, Lewis compared [[Donald Trump]], then the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] front-runner for the presidential nomination, to former Alabama Governor [[George Wallace]]: "I've been around a while and Trump reminds me so much of a lot of the things that George Wallace said and did. I think [[demagogues]] are pretty dangerous, really&nbsp;... We shouldn't divide people, we shouldn't separate people."<ref name="LAT_Panzar">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rep-john-lewis-trump-others-la-visit-20160123-story.html |title=Rep. John Lewis speaks out against Trump's divisive rhetoric during L.A. visit |last=Panzar |first=Javier |date=January 23, 2016 |quote=I've been around a while and Trump reminds me so much of a lot of the things that George Wallace said and did. I think demagogues are pretty dangerous, really [and] we shouldn't divide people, we shouldn't separate people. |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=February 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611125950/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rep-john-lewis-trump-others-la-visit-20160123-story.html |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On January 13, 2017, during an interview with [[NBC]]'s [[Chuck Todd]] for ''[[Meet the Press]]'', Lewis stated: "I don't see the president-elect as a legitimate president."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Todd |first1=Chuck |last2=Bronston |first2=Sally |last3=Rivera |first3=Matt |title=Rep. John Lewis: 'I don't see Trump as a legitimate president' |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676 |work=[[NBC News]] |date=January 14, 2017 |access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113233912/http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676|archive-date=January 13, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> He added, "I think the Russians participated in having this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I don't plan to attend the [[Inauguration of Donald Trump|inauguration]]. I think there was a [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|conspiracy on the part of the Russians]], and others, that helped him get elected. That's not right. That's not fair. That's not the open, democratic process."<ref>{{cite news| first=Nicholas| last=Loffredo|url=http://www.newsweek.com/john-lewis-trump-legitimacy-dems-skipping-inauguration-542819| title=John Lewis, Questioning Trump's Legitimacy, Among Dems Skipping Inauguration| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114211654/http://www.newsweek.com/john-lewis-trump-legitimacy-dems-skipping-inauguration-542819| archive-date=January 14, 2017| magazine=[[Newsweek]]| date=January 14, 2017}}</ref> Trump replied on Twitter the following day, suggesting that Lewis 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", and accusing Lewis of being "All talk, talk, talk&nbsp;– no action or results. Sad!"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dawsey |first1=Josh |last2=Cheney |first2=Kyle |last3=Morin |first3=Rebecca |title=Trump rips John Lewis as Democrats boycott inauguration |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-233630 |work=Politico |date=January 14, 2017|access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115140853/http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-233630|archive-date=January 15, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Trump's statement about Lewis's district was rated as "Mostly False" by [[PolitiFact]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Qiu |first=Linda |title=Trump's exaggerated claim that John Lewis' district is 'falling apart' and 'crime infested' |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/15/donald-trump/trumps-john-lewis-crime-invested-atlanta/ |work=[[PolitiFact]] |date=January 15, 2017 |access-date=February 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206142907/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/15/donald-trump/trumps-john-lewis-crime-invested-atlanta/|archive-date=February 6, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and he was criticized for attacking a civil rights leader such as Lewis, especially one who was brutally beaten for the cause, and especially on [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day|Martin Luther King weekend]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=David |title=Donald Trump starts MLK weekend by attacking civil rights hero John Lewis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/14/donald-trump-john-lewis-mlk-day-civil-rights |access-date=January 15, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, England|date=January 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115022142/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/14/donald-trump-john-lewis-mlk-day-civil-rights |archive-date=January 15, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYT_2017">{{cite news |title=In Trump's Feud With John Lewis, Blacks Perceive a Callous Rival |url=https://nyti.ms/2iBjXO6 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 15, 2017 |access-date=January 16, 2017 |first=Yamiche |last=Alcindor |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013520/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/us/politics/trumps-race-john-lewis.html?smid=pl-share |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 15, 2017 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/15/in-feud-with-john-lewis-donald-trump-attacked-one-of-the-most-respected-people-in-america/?wpisrc=nl_most-draw14&wpmm=1 |title=In feud with John Lewis, Donald Trump attacked 'one of the most respected people in America' | first=Cleve R. Jr. |last=Wootson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916140645/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/15/in-feud-with-john-lewis-donald-trump-attacked-one-of-the-most-respected-people-in-america/?wpisrc=nl_most-draw14&wpmm=1 |archive-date=September 16, 2017}}</ref> Senator [[John McCain]] acknowledged Lewis as "an American hero" but criticized him, saying: "this is not the first time that Congressman Lewis has taken a very extreme stand and condemned without any shred of evidence for doing so an incoming president of the United States. This is a stain on Congressman Lewis's reputation&nbsp;– no one else's."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-feud-tweets-233685 |title=Trump maintains feud with Lewis: He also boycotted Bush 43 |work=[[Politico]] |first=Nolan D. |last=McCaskill |date=January 17, 2017|access-date=August 6, 2018 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723212514/https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-feud-tweets-233685|archive-date=July 23, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

A few days later, Lewis said that he would not attend [[Inauguration of Donald Trump|Trump's inauguration]] because he did not believe that Trump was the true elected president. "It will be the first (inauguration) that I miss since I've been in Congress. You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right", he said. Lewis had failed to attend [[First inauguration of George W. Bush|George W. Bush's inauguration in 2001]] because he believed that he too was not a legitimately elected president. Lewis's statement was rated as "Pants on Fire" by PolitiFact.<ref>{{cite web |title=Democratic congressman John Lewis rejects Trump, will skip inauguration for first time in 30 years |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3181210/democratic-congressman-john-lewis-rejects-trump-will-skip-inauguration-for-first-time-in-30-years/ |website=[[Global News]] |publisher=[[Global News Network]]|location=Victoria, British Columbia, Canada|date=January 14, 2017 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=February 7, 2018 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207184420/https://globalnews.ca/news/3181210/democratic-congressman-john-lewis-rejects-trump-will-skip-inauguration-for-first-time-in-30-years/|archive-date=February 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Trump inauguration boycott grows |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38636136 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=August 1, 2020 |date=January 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812053028/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38636136 |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Lewis |title=John Lewis wrong on whether he has skipped an inauguration |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/17/john-lewis/john-lewis-wrong-whether-he-skipped-inauguration-d/ |work=[[PolitiFact]]|date=January 17, 2017 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207182934/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/17/john-lewis/john-lewis-wrong-whether-he-skipped-inauguration-d/ |archive-date=February 7, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>