Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would not invite President-elect Donald Trump to Selma, Ala., the site of historical civil rights marches, though he would not stop Trump from visiting the city.
“Well, by going to Selma — like President Bush, President Clinton, President Obama — maybe he would learn something. Maybe he would get religion,” Lewis said during the interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I would not invite him to come,” Lewis added when asked by host Chuck Todd about bringing Trump to Selma.
{mosads}Pressed about allowing Trump to visit the city, Lewis added, “I wouldn’t try to do anything to prevent him from coming.”
Trump and Lewis have been locked in a war of words stemming from a portion of the NBC interview released Friday, where Lewis said he didn’t view Trump as a “legitimate president” and would not attend his inauguration.
Trump fired back on Saturday on Twitter, saying the Democratic lawmaker was “all talk” and “no action.”
“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,” Trump said in several tweets.
After backlash from a number of Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Trump tweeted that Lewis should focus on the nation’s inner cities, suggesting they work together on the issue.
Lewis walked in Selma with President Obama in 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march from Selma to the state’s capital of Montgomery as part of the voting rights movement. The lawmaker helped lead the 1965 Selma march and was beaten by police during the demonstration.