Trump’s Attack On John Lewis Sparks Bipartisan Outrage, Fuels Inauguration Boycott

At Least 12 House Democrats Now Plan To Skip Event

Numerous Democrats in Congress, as well as at least one Republican, have condemned Donald Trump’s Saturday morning Twitter attack on civil rights icon John Lewis. 

“Ahead of #MLKday2017, let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wrote: 

Another Democrat, New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, wrote that while Trump “stands with” Russian President Vladimir Putin, he stands with Lewis:  

Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan wrote that “it’s time for Trump to grow up”:

Republican Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse responded to Trump’s claim that Lewis is “all talk” by noting that, “John Lewis and his ‘talk’ have changed the world”:

Trump’s ill-timed assault on the former Freedom Rider on the weekend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday was also fueling a growing boycott of the president-elect’s Jan. 20 inauguration. 

Openly gay California Congressman Mark Takano on Saturday became at least the 12th Democrat in the House to announce he won’t be attending, tweeting a photo of Lewis marching arm-in-arm with King. “I stand with @repjohnlewis,” Takano wrote. 

As of this week, Trump’s approval rating was already the lowest of any president-elect in decades. And on Friday, we learned the Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate possible contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia, as part of the panel’s probe into Moscow’s interference in the presidential election. 

Shortly after his attack on Lewis, Trump again tweeted about an intelligence dossier published this week, which contained incendiary allegations about his campaign’s ties to Russia as well as salacious sexual details:  

“‘INTELLIGENCE INSIDERS NOW CLAIM THE TRUMP DOSSIER IS ‘A COMPLETE FRAUD!’ @OANN” Trump wrote in all caps, citing as his source the right-wing One America News Network. 

Some are suggesting Trump’s attack on Lewis was meant to distract from the growing Russia scandal. But if that was the case, it appears to have backfired by further energized The Resistance.