--- title: Donald Trump Slams Civil Rights Leader Rep. John Lewis description: President-elect Donald Trump attacked civil rights leader John Lewis on Saturday, after Lewis said Trump was not a "legitimate president" canonical: https://time.com/4635375/donald-trump-john-lewis/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-14T16:02:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:44:14.745Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Slams Civil Rights Leader Rep. John Lewis for Critical Comments og:description: Lewis said he does not see Trump as a "legitimate president" og:url: https://time.com/4635375/donald-trump-john-lewis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7580c48d66d12452/6988b5a397cdff86006af1d4/donald-trump-john-lewis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4928 og:image:height: 2772 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-PRESSER og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Slams Civil Rights Leader Rep. John Lewis for Critical Comments twitter:description: Lewis said he does not see Trump as a "legitimate president" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7580c48d66d12452/6988b5a397cdff86006af1d4/donald-trump-john-lewis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Slams Civil Rights Leader Rep. John Lewis for Critical Comments > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 14, 2017 4:02 PM UTC  President-elect Donald Trump answers journalists' questions during a press conference on Jan. 11, 2017 in New York. President-elect Donald Trump answers journalists' questions during a press conference on Jan. 11, 2017 in New York. Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 14, 2017 4:02 PM UTC President-elect Donald Trump attacked Democratic Congressman and [civil rights leader John Lewis](http://time.com/4378804/john-lewis-activism-sit-ins-civil-rights-movement/) on Twitter Saturday morning, after Lewis said Trump was not a [“legitimate president”](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676) and announced that he would not attend the [upcoming inauguration](http://time.com/4634445/donald-trump-inauguration-prayer/). “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](http://time.com/4378804/john-lewis-activism-sit-ins-civil-rights-movement/) at segregated lunch counters and marching across the [Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma](http://time.com/3636426/selmas-movie-mlk-articles/)—was instrumental to the progress of the civil rights movement. Trump’s comments followed the release Friday of part of Lewis’ [_Meet the Press_ interview](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676), in which he said he doesn’t think Trump is a “legitimate” president. “I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people, but it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be very difficult,” Lewis said when asked in the interview if he would forge a relationship with Trump. “I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” Lewis said. “I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I don’t plan to attend the inauguration. It will be the first one that I miss since I’ve been in Congress.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4635375/donald-trump-john-lewis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4635375/donald-trump-john-lewis/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Slams Civil Rights Leader Rep. 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