WASHINGTON – President Trump told reporters Monday that he has no plans to visit the chest of civil rights hero John Lewis while he is in the state on the United States Capitol.
“No, I will not go, no,” Trump said when asked if he would travel Monday or Tuesday to pay his respects.
Trump made the remarks before leaving for a trip to North Carolina when lawmakers from both sides of the aisle gathered at the Capitol roundabout on Monday afternoon to receive Lewis’s body after a procession in a caravan through Washington, DC
Vice President Mike Pence will pay his respects on behalf of the President.
Both Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) paid tribute to Lewis and his legacy as someone who fought for racial equality for seven decades, especially during the 1965 civil rights march in Selma where he was beaten by the police.
Lewis, who was 80, died earlier this month of stage 4 pancreatic cancer and made his last appearance just a few weeks ago at Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC as the nation continues to experience decades of systemic inequality.
Trump tweeted that day: “Sad to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing away. Melania and I send our prayers to him and his family.”
But Lewis and the president often disagreed. The lawmaker boycotted Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, encouraging at least 60 other Democrats to follow.
Presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden traveled from Delaware to the nation’s Capitol on Monday to pay tribute to his former colleague.
.
