Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:48 pm
The backlash has been swift and severe as members of Congress are laying into President-elect Donald Trump after he criticized Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) on Twitter.
Here is a sample of the reaction from members of Congress.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) tweeted:
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.@repjohnlewis knows true sacrifice. @realDonaldTrump has no clue. When cluelessness collides with power oppression results. Resistance! https://t.co/Eu1vWbetsl
— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) January 14, 2017
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) tweeted:
.@repjohnlewis is a hero and I'm lucky to call him a colleague. You sir are not half the man he is. @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/f7VwPYQNiz
— Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) January 14, 2017
Rep. Gerry Connelly (D-VA) tweeted:
.@repjohnlewis is a hero who has given his life to equal rights. He's been locked up, beaten up, spit on and still never lost his fight
— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) January 14, 2017
Trump's tweets are repulsive
— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) January 14, 2017
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) tweeted:
John Lewis is an American hero.
You're a fake billionaire who won't release his taxes.
Put down Twitter and get serious about governing. https://t.co/LIvpXhX2wX
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) January 14, 2017
The consensus is that Trump isn’t fit to shine Rep. Lewis’s shoes, much less criticize him. John Lewis has done more for the people of this country both as a private citizen and a public servant than Donald Trump has in his entire life.
Lewis is a hero that children should look up to, while Trump is the kind of influence that most parents never want their kids to emulate.
A president-elect who attacked a Gold Star family who lost their son in combat is not going to draw the line at criticism from a civil rights hero.
John Lewis has done something that Donald Trump would never have the courage to do. Lewis stood up for what is right and bled for equality.
Rep. Lewis has lived the struggle. An entitled and insulated prince like Donald Trump isn’t fit to breathe the same air as John Lewis.
Trump has managed to turn the weekend before his inauguration into hate speech theater and find a new way to drive his approval ratings even lower.
Both John Lewis and the United States of America deserve better than Donald Trump.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
