President Trump tweeted only once on Saturday, posting a simple message that praised the late Rep. John Lewis as a “civil rights hero.”
Lewis, who had represented Georgia for decades in the House, died Friday in Atlanta at the age of 80. I had advanced pancreatic cancer.
“Saddened to hear the news of the passing of civil rights hero John Lewis,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Melania and I send our prayers to him and his family.”
Lewis, son of Alabama sharecroppers, became known as one of the original Freedom Riders in the early 1960s. In 1963, at just 23 years old, he was a keynote speaker at the March on Washington alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King. Jr.
Trump also issued an official White House proclamation ordering federal flags to be flown to personnel in Washington and at US embassies and military bases around the world “as a sign of respect for memory and public service. long-standing “of the 17-term congressman.
But Lewis and the president often disagreed. The lawmaker boycotted Trump’s inauguration in 2017, encouraging at least 60 other Democrats to follow.
On Saturday, Trump let his substitutes take the lead in praising Lewis.
Vice President Mike Pence, in a long emotional statement posted on Twitter, described Lewis as “a great man whose courage and public service changed America forever.”
Pence, who served alongside Lewis for six terms in Congress, called him “a colleague and friend” whose “selflessness and conviction made our nation a more perfect union.”
“Even when we differed, John was always unfailingly kind,” Pence wrote.
Clarence Henderson, a member of Trump’s “Black Voices for Trump” campaign arm, said Lewis “dedicated his life and career to improving our country.”
“We will always be grateful for the legacy he leaves as we pray for him and his family,” Henderson said on behalf of the Trump campaign.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also offered tributes.
“He leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten,” he tweeted.
But some in Lewis’s circle were unmoved by the White House’s words.
“Please cry in peace,” Karen Bass, president of the Black Caucus in Congress, tweeted, tweeting Saturday morning in a message to Trump.
“As the nation mourns the death of a national hero, please don’t say anything,” Bass said.
Funeral arrangements for Lewis have yet to be announced, but Fox News reported that the widely admired body of the congressman will likely remain in the state on the United States Capitol in the coming days, an honor that has been extended to just 36 citizens. Americans in the history of the nation.
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