'Nobody Has Done More For Black Americans Than I Have; John Lewis Didn't Come To My Inauguration'

'Trump insists he's done more for Black Americans than iconic civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis.' By Jen Hayden, staff Daily Kos, Aug. 4, 2020. - Excerpts, Ed.:

Donald Trump sat down with Axios on HBO and the network has been releasing clips ahead of the full interview, each one worst than the last. As my colleague Laura Clawson noted, he whined about coronavirus-related questions, trying to twist the information to make the pandemic and his horrid response seem not as God awful as we can all plainly see it has been. Trump literally eye-rolled as he was confronted with the statistics showing the U.S. is leading the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths.




And then there was a question about John Lewis, the iconic congressman from Georgia who embodied the best of America while enduring some of the worst of America. One of the “big six” civil rights leaders, the Alabama-born Lewis, alongside Hosea Williams, led a march from Selma to Montgomery, where the pair and their allies were brutally beaten after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965... Later that year he shared the stage with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, D.C., speaking to the crowd before King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Twenty-one years later, Lewis would be elected to Congress and would serve until his death in 2020, earning a reputation as one of the smartest, kindest members of Congress in history, always dedicated to making “good trouble” and advancing civil rights.

~ Upon Lewis’ death, President Obama recalled their moment together on the inauguration stage just before Obama was sworn in. Of that moment, Obama said: “When I was elected President of the United States, I hugged him on the inauguration stand before I was sworn in and told him I was only there because of the sacrifices he made.” ~

Lewis’ death drove days of headlines and live television coverage as his flag-draped casket again rolled over the Edmund Pettus Bridge and made its way back to Washington, D.C., where he laid in state in the U.S. Capitol before being taken back to Atlanta as his final resting place. Given the national mourning, the adulation, and the news coverage, including his memorial service being carried live on television with former presidents giving his eulogy, you’d think Donald Trump might have learned something about the man the world was mourning...
When asked by Jonathon Swan of Axios: “How do you think history will remember John Lewis?” Trump flatly replied:
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. He chose—I never met John Lewis, actually, I don’t believe.” Watch this moment and then jump below for the rest of the transcript, because it does indeed get worse..

SWAN: Do you find John Lewis impressive? TRUMP: I can’t say one way or the other—I find a lot of people impressive.
I find many people impressive, but, no, he didn’t come to my inauguration. He didn’t come to my State of the Union speeches, and that’s okay. That’s his right. And again, nobody has done more for Black Americans than I have.
He should’ve come. I think he made a big mistake. I think he should’ve come...

More + Video, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8/4/1966410/-Trump-insists-he-s-done-more-for-Black-Americans-than-iconic-Civil-Rights-leader-Rep-John-Lewis