Trump Criticizing Rep. John Lewis Is Racist (Dishonest Press Strikes Again)

Representative John Lewis gave an interview with Chuck Todd of NBC News wherein he said that Donald Trump is not a legitimate President:

"I don't see this President-elect as a legitimate president," Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, told NBC News' Chuck Todd in a clip released Friday. "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

The media, which is overwhelmingly anti-Trump, jumped on this immediately. All the news outlets were blasting out a story on this. The cable news networks were glad to bring to the table yesterday, even convening panels to discuss it. The media was again discussing it this this morning.

The Democrats have been trying to delegitimize Trump since the moment he unexpectedly (to them anyway) beat Hillary Clinton - the woman they dreamed of coronating. They protested in the streets, then they tried recounts, they blame(d) the electoral college and tried to harass electors, they call it a whitelash/racism, they blame Russia, they blame Comey, they blame fake news, and the latest in Politico shows they are now blaming headlines on the cover of tabloids such as the National Enquirer in the checkout line at supermarkets. Lewis, of course, has chosen the Russia angle.

Considering this story is getting a lot of media coverage, Donald Trump himself responded. He tweeted:

Congressman John 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. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!

Cue up the usual cadre of liberals in the media, liberals online, and RINO establishment Republicans - this group constantly craving the support of liberal colleagues and the press. (How did that work out for McCain and Romney?) They call Trump thin skinned, immature, juvenile, etc. if he responds to their comments. They say he should "stop campaigning." To the latter point, he can't cease campaigning because of the consistent negativity and attempts to delegitimize him before he even comes into office. To the point that they insult him, they are the ones who punch and then whine when he responds. He's not the garden variety roll over and die Republican they are accustomed to.

Now, to the point - the media doesn't like that Trump has responded. What can they do? Why pull out the old racism attack line. They are saying that because Trump said, "All talk, talk, talk - no actions or results," it means that Trump is ignoring the work and sacrifice Lewis made regarding civil rights. Is that what Trump was getting at? Of course not. He was criticizing John Lewis record as a Congressman. Will the media report this without inferring Trump is a racist? Are there still Wooley Mammoths in existence?

‘All Talk, No Action,’ Trump Says in Attack on John Lewis, a Civil Rights Icon

While some, including David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Obama, said they were uncomfortable with Mr. Lewis’s assertion,

Mr. Trump’s outburst drew indignation from many people who pointed out the unseemliness of attacking a civil rights leader on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Mr. Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders, beaten by police officers while marching from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.

Others ridiculed Mr. Trump’s characterization of Mr. Lewis’s district, which is majority African-American and encompasses three-quarters of Atlanta, as “horrible,” “falling apart” and “crime infested.” While Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District faces challenges typical of many urban areas, it also includes wealthy neighborhoods like Buckhead; the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Some pointed out that fighting with Mr. Lewis distracted attention from a Senate investigation, announced the day before, that will look at possible contacts between Mr. Trump’s campaign team and Russia. In addition, Mr. Trump’s poll numbers have slipped into uncharted depths for an incoming president, with a Gallup poll released on Friday finding that about half of Americans disapprove of Mr. Trump’s transition effort. Some also noted that Mr. Trump had questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Obama’s presidency with false claims about his birthplace.

Mr. Trump’s feud with Mr. Lewis carried echoes of his attacks on Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Pakistani-American parents of an American soldier killed in Iraq, after Mr. Khan spoke out against Mr. Trump at the Democratic National Convention. Those attacks were widely viewed to have backfired, and Mr. Trump later modulated his words about the Khans.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/%E2%80%98all-talk-no-action%E2%80%99-trump-says-in-attack-on-john-lewis-a-civil-rights-icon/ar-AAlS0Fb?li=AA5a8k&ocid=spartanntp

President-elect Donald Trump railed against civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, in two tweets Saturday morning, following the congressman’s plans to boycott next week’s inauguration.

The president-elect disparaged Lewis as “All talk, talk talk - no action or results” and attacking him for representing a Georgia district Mr. Trump claimed was “crime infested” and “falling apart.”

The attacks, launched just two days before the nation celebrates the civil rights legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., follow Lewis’ decision to sit out the presidential inauguration Friday. On missing the ceremony -- the first in three decades that Lewis will not be present for -- the Georgia Democrat told NBC in an interview, “you cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong.”

Lewis also contested Mr. Trump’s legitimacy as president in his NBC interview scheduled to air Sunday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-blasts-civil-rights-icon-john-lewis-in-twitter-attack/

Notice how they wait four paragraphs in (after they've insinuated Trump attacked a civil rights icon over civil rights) to say that Lewis said Trump was not a legitimate President.

Donald Trump lashed out at Rep. John Lewis on Saturday after the civil rights icon said he doesn't view Trump as a "legitimate president” — and the confrontation threatened to trigger a broader boycott of Trump’s inauguration by Democratic lawmakers already on the fence about attending.

Trump showed yet again that no one who crosses him — no matter how revered or respected, as Lewis is among both parties in Congress — will necessarily be spared his ire. Lewis was one of the top organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, and his skull was fractured by state troopers police on "Bloody Sunday," the civil rights protest in Selma, Alabama two years later.

"Congressman John 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. All talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!" Trump wrote in two tweets Saturday morning.

The tweets, two days before the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, came after Lewis questioned Trump's victory in the presidential race in a pre-taped "Meet the Press" interview that aired Friday on NBC.

Trump branded 'loathsome' for attacking civil rights hero Representative John Lewis on MLK weekend in row over election

Donald Trump tore into civil rights legend John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the billionare's White House victory.

His remarks have intensified a feud with the black congressman just days before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr and as the first African-American president prepares to leave office.

Now, hundreds of people, including many politicians and reporters, have come out to denounce Trump's attack - branding him loathsome for attacking the civil rights hero.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4119964/Trump-unleashes-Twitter-attack-against-congressional-critic.html#ixzz4Vm7fmtLO

President-elect Donald Trump harshly responded to civil rights icon and Georgia Rep. John Lewis on Saturday, calling him "all talk" and "no action" after Lewis said Trump was not a "legitimate" president.

"Congressman John 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. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad," Trump tweeted Saturday, which happened to fall on the weekend of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday.

Lewis -- an ally of King who was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 while marching for civil rights -- represents a Georgia district that includes most of Atlanta. On the campaign trail, Trump regularly decried crime in urban areas while pledging to revitalize neighborhoods primarily populated by black Americans.

Donald Trump Fires Back At John Lewis After He Challenged The President-Elect’s Legitimacy

President-elect Donald Trump lashed out at Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on Saturday ― two days before America recognizes Martin Luther King Jr. Day ― after the civil rights leader said he doesn’t see him as a “legitimate president.”

Trump hit back at Lewis, suggesting that the congressman was doing a bad job of representing his district.

Many pointed out the irony of Trump saying Lewis was “all talk,” posting photos of him marching with King and staging sit-ins:

Lewis rose to prominence as a civil rights leader after police beat him in 1965 as he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Police attacked Lewis and hundreds of peaceful voting rights activists at the event, known as “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis was beaten so badly he suffered a fractured skull. He was awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-john-lewis_us_587a270de4b0e58057ff1aca

Trump kicks off Martin Luther King weekend by attacking civil rights legend John Lewis

In yet another indication of his unwillingness to let criticism pass, Donald Trump has lashed out at “all talk … no action” national icon John Lewis, who was beaten repeatedly and nearly lost his life in the long struggle for civil rights.

Trump’s Twitter comments early Saturday about the Georgia congressman followed Lewis’ assertion Friday that he did not see Trump as a “legitimate” president because of Russian involvement in the defeat of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The president-elect’s response was rife with irony: Trump did so at the beginning of a weekend dedicated to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., over something Trump himself has done repeatedly. Trump built his political name on a more than five-year effort to de-legitimize President Obama by falsely claiming that he was foreign-born.

Trump also used racially freighted language when he said that Lewis’ Atlanta district was “crime infested” and “falling apart.” It actually includes much of the area’s most successful neighborhoods.

(Snip - She then relays the Civil Rights history of Lewis and how Obama gave him a Presidential Medal of Freedom)

Trump’s remarks, reminiscent of his summer attack on a Gold Star family who spoke against him at the Democratic convention, spurred defenses of Lewis by political figures and others.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-in-a-weekened-celebrating-the-civil-1484407475-htmlstory.html

This is nothing like the Kahn story, and it is false equivocation and deliberate dishonesty.

Trump Decries Civil Rights Icon John Lewis as ‘No Action,’ Sparking Backlash

Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis rankled President-elect Donald Trump when he told NBC News' "Meet the Press" in an exclusive interview on Friday that he does not believe Trump is a "legitimate president." The comment provoked Trump to lash out at the congressman, decrying him on Twitter Saturday as "all talk, talk, talk - no action or results."

Trump's series of tweets criticizing Lewis set off a flurry of reaction on the weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Several Democrats rallied behind Lewis, a Freedom Rider and top organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, calling him an "American hero" and revered civil rights leader. Republicans stayed mostly silent amid the back and forth — the latest to highlight Trump's willingness to take on anyone, from war heroes to celebrities, whom he believes slighted him.

The last part didn't sit well with Democratic lawmakers, some who noted that Trump was ripping the black congressman — the son of Southern sharecroppers whose fight against segregation and as an original Freedom Rider is well-documented — on the weekend ahead of the King holiday.

Lewis was beaten during a civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 and had been arrested and jailed repeatedly in opposition to desegregation. Since joining Congress in 1987, he's been a leading member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/dems-defend-rep-lewis-hero-after-trump-slams-civil-rights-n706921

President-elect Donald Trump sparked outrage (again) Saturday by attacking Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., after the civil rights icon said he would skip Trump’s inauguration and doesn’t consider his election legitimate.

“Congressman John 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,” Trump tweeted. “All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!”

The reaction, as one would imagine, was swift. Democrats, celebrities and even some Republicans weighed in.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/01/14/trump-slammed-insulting-civil-rights-icon-john-lewis/96588526/

Donald Trump struck back at criticism leveled at him by Georgia congressman John Lewis on Saturday—eliciting bipartisan critcism in the process—after suggsting the Democrat should focus on fixing his "crime infested" district in response to a remark that questioned the president-elect's legitimacy.

In an interview on Friday, Lewis—a political elder statesman who was severely beaten during a march in Selma, Alabama during the civil rights era—dismissed Trump as not being a "legitimate president."

Lewis is widely regarded as a civil rights icon, and was a vocal supporter of Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College by a wide margin.

Trump, however, struck back early Saturday in a series of posts on Twitter. Fresh from a controversy earlier this week, in which he responded to a critique from actress Meryl Streep, the president-elect accused Lewis of neglecting the needs of a district that was in "horrible shape" and doing little other than "talk, talk, talk."

The exchange sparked a new verbal slugfest between the president-elect and a prominent Democrat on the eve of his inauguration, and days before Martin Luther King Day. Lewis's supporters and Democratic colleagues, and even a few of the president-elect's own party members, immediately rushed to Lewis' defense.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/14/trump-engages-in-war-of-words-with-john-lewis-ahead-of-inauguration.html

President-elect Trump feels the need to insult civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis on Twitter? Sad!

But what's really sad — pathetic, actually — is that a man who will be President of the United States in less than a week, who, no doubt, has plenty of foreign and domestic issues on his plate, would use his thumbs and a smartphone to insult a civil rights hero like John Lewis. President-elect Donald Trump calls Rep. John Lewis 'sad!'

That’s where Lewis, one of the original Freedom Riders, got his head beat in during what became known as Bloody Sunday, when demonstrators were attacked by police officers with billy clubs as they tried to march to Alabama’s state capitol in Montgomery during a voting rights protest on March 7, 1965.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-insulted-civil-rights-hero-john-lewis-twitter-sad-article-1.2946512

Trump Attacks Civil Rights Hero Lewis As 'All Talk' After He Questions His Legitimacy

Donald Trump lashed out at civil rights hero John Lewis on Twitter Saturday morning, a day after the Georgia Democratic congressman said in an interview he didn't view the president-elect as "legitimate" amid questions of Russia's interference in the U.S. elections.

While Trump has a well-known tendency to take to social media to push back against any slight against him, such a strongly-worded rebuke of Lewis and the criticism of his majority-black district was jarring on the holiday weekend celebrating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders and a top lieutenant of King's, helping organize the March on Washington in 1963 and marching with King across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 1965, where his skull was fractured.

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/14/509834319/trump-attacks-civil-rights-hero-lewis-as-all-talk-after-he-questions-his-legitim

Politicians, entertainers and others have come to the defence of a US civil rights campaigner, Congressman John Lewis, who has become embroiled in a row with President-elect Donald Trump.

Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Lewis was "all talk" and should focus on his constituents, after he said Mr Trump was not a legitimate president.

He is the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington, led by Martin Luther King.

Democrats, celebrities and Republicans defend Democratic Rep. Lewis after Trump's tweets

A growing number of Democrats, Hollywood celebrities and some Republicans came to the defense of civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis amid fallout from Donald Trump's comments earlier on Saturday.

Trump said that Lewis, who has argued the president-elect won't be a legitimate leader, should focus more on fixing his Georgia district.

“Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart,” Trump tweeted.

The response on Twitter was swift. GOP Sen. Ben Sassse of Nebraska tweeted that "John Lewis and his "talk" have changed the world."

Lewis, a leader in the civil rights movement of the 1960s who was beaten by state troopers during the "Bloody Sunday" march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama, says in an NBC's "Meet the Press" to air Sunday that he does not consider Trump a "legitimate president," and blamed the Russians for helping the Republican win the White House.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/14/democratic-rep-lewis-trump-not-legitimate-president.html

President-elect Trump Attacks Civil Rights Icon Who Said His Presidency Not 'Legitimate'

President-elect Donald Trump unleashed a Twitter attack on Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, after the lawmaker said he wouldn't attend Trump's inauguration because he doesn't see him as a "legitimate president."

Lewis in an interview with NBC on Friday cited Russia's meddling in the election for his view on the legitimacy of the presidential election results, and his comments stoked controversy with Republicans and debate inside the Democratic Party.

Trump’s tweets spurred a backlash on social media, including by some who said Trump was dismissing Lewis' accomplishments in the struggle for civil rights on the weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Lewis is one of the last surviving central organizing figures of the U.S. civil rights movement and was beat by police in a march for voting rights on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-elect-trump-attacks-civil-rights-icon-presidency/story?id=44777274

Donald Trump Slams Civil Rights Leader Rep. John Lewis for Critical Comments

President-elect Donald Trump attacked Democratic Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis on Twitter Saturday morning, after Lewis said Trump was not a “legitimate president” and announced that he would not attend the upcoming inauguration.

“Congressman John 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.” Donald Trump wrote in tweets on Saturday morning.

“All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!” Trump said of Lewis, whose activism—which included participating in sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma—was instrumental to the progress of the civil rights movement.

Ok, I think you get the gist of what I am saying. Now I will post some Tweets and comments of people condemning him (yes, including Republicans virtue signaling)

On this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, let it be clear that John Lewis is an American patriot. Trump's attacks on him further confirm it.

It's telling, I'm afraid, that Donald Trump treats Vladimir Putin with more respect than he does John Lewis.

As we honor MLK, I'll always stand by my friend, American hero @repjohnlewis. We'll lock arms & resist any effort to roll back civil rights.

Ahead of #MLKday2017, let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed.

By disrespecting @repjohnlewis, @realDonaldTrump dishonored Lewis' sacrifice & demeaned the Americans & rights, he nearly died 4. Apologize.

John Lewis is an icon of the Civil Rights Movement who is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality,” she wrote. “He deserves better than this.”

“.@repjohnlewis knows true sacrifice. @realDonaldTrump has no clue. When cluelessness collides with power oppression results. Resistance,” the Minnesota lawmaker said.

Appearing on MSNBC’s AM Joy, Steele took Trump to task for the comments that happened to be tweeted on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

“Number one, don’t tweet that. Number two, don’t go there. And number three, try and step back and appreciate what’s being said,” Steele began, referring to Lewis’s criticism.

“You can put it in a partisan context,” he continued. “You know, ‘He’s a Democrat, I’m a Republican. He’s black, I’m white.’ It goes to what you were just saying, what’s undergirding that?”

“If you’re looking to heal and bridge, and bring people of America together, well, we’re a part of that. As black folks, we’re apart of that,” Steele remarked. “Our expectation is, not only will you attempt that same effort that you would to white folks in other communities, but that you will show respect for our leadership, those who do represent our interests. You know, the tweet is unnecessary. John Lewis has a walk that very few people in this country, least of all Donald Trump, have ever walked.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/ex-rnc-head-michael-steele-slams-trump-for-lewis-tweets-trump-has-never-walked-the-walk/

Race had nothing to do with this, but the same old RINOs continue to contribute to and aid the left wing media narrative. That's why the Republicans couldn't win elections. This was not about race. It was about Trump responding to criticism. Trump would have responded to a white person the same way. Anyone who has watched him over the past year and a half would know that. This was not about what he did for civil rights. Trump never even came close to implying that. He criticized him as "all talk" for saying he was not a legitimate President when his own district has a 17% poverty rate, higher than the national average of 13.5% and is number 14 on the list of 20 most dangerous cities in America. Trump is saying that as opposed to criticizing the results of a free and fair election, worry about your district. Is Lewis above criticism because of his history, his race, this being MLK weekend?

Imagine for a second if the roles were reversed and this was a white Republican rep saying this about Obama. The guy would have been skewered as a racist, and if Obama gave this exact same response Trump gave about focusing on his district, he would have gotten a round of applause. As it is, Lewis is treated well by the gleeful media for saying the President-elect is not legitimate, and the media whines when the person who won the election responds. The media has pulled out the tired old racist mantra again as opposed to dealing with the substance.

Race pimp and poster boy for term limits, Johnny Lewis criticizing Trump is racist.

2 posted on 01/14/2017 4:28:24 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (As long as tyranny exists, the Constitution and Bill of Right will never be "outdated" or "obsolete")

When I read Lewis’s refusal to support Trump for a ridiculous knee-jerk “black” answer, I was and remain furious. Trump hasn’t even been in office, hasn’t even been given a chance, and this old IDIOT, from whom we didn’t hear one peep about the absolute traitor Odungo, who even now plots how best to harm the U.S. in the few more days his miserable carcass is in office, parrots his stereotypical trash about Trump. This old moron needs to GO. He is a shining example of voting by complexion instead of qualifications.

Claiming that one's skin color makes a man beyond reproach is racist.
American liberals have become the most racist people on Earth.

5 16 27 11

“Mr. Trump’s outburst drew indignation from many people who pointed out the unseemliness of attacking a civil rights leader on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “
__________________________________

But those same people didn’t have a problem with him attacking a president-elect a few days before his inauguration and calling him ‘illegitimate.”

All used up over the last 8 years

NO REFILLS!

6 posted on 01/14/2017 4:31:15 PM PST by freedumb2003 (obozo: not just the worst president in American history - worst *American* in American history (turf)

Did Trump ever mention about him having darker pigment. Being against someone’s track record does this make them a racist... Wow..

Say ANYTHING about a far left black Commie is racist, but calling Ben Carson a “Uncle Tom” is OK..calling Tim Scott a “Sellout and a house N” is OK..calling Steve Harvey a “Coon” for saying we need to support our President is A OK..but dare say something about this liberal douche bag and you are branded a racist

I don’t see John Lewis as a legitimate civil rights activist. He’s nothing but a racist activist.

This is a great article.

It reveals the black heart of the media.

13 posted on 01/14/2017 5:17:21 PM PST by donna ('God's standards, like it or not, are the basis for the laws that led to western civilization.)

John Lewis: Civil Rights Icon … and a Liar

Let’s be blunt; John Lewis is a liar. He claimed the N-word was “shouted” over and over at him and yet no camera among the many there has caught anything of the sort. In other words, there is no doubt about it; he was and is lying straight through his teeth. As so is McClatchy’s William Douglas who filed the story, no doubt knowing full-well that it was false.

Lewis lied about being called a N_igger and spat upon. The tape shows he lied.

14 posted on 01/14/2017 5:24:17 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)

Actually, if Trump had NOT criticized Lewis that would have been racist. It would have signaled Trump was treating Lewis differently. As it is, he was treated the same as Trump treats everyone.

You hit him, he hits back.

Mess with the bull and you get the horns.

I think these democraps and their accomplices in the media BLM etc. are trying to stir up enough hatred to get trump killed. Filth like John Lewis, John McCain and Kasim Reed are just typical examples of trump haters. Piling lie upon lie to stir up hate.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.