Georgia Representative and civil rights icon, John Lewis, joined his congressional colleagues in support of condemning President Donald Trump’s recent tweets that told four congresswomen of color to “go back” to their countries.
What We Know:
- Lewis was “shocked and dismayed” by Trump’s comments. Ahead of a vote on a resolution condemning Trump’s tweet, Lewis made a comment saying, “I know racism when I see it. I know racism when I feel it. And at the highest level of our government, there’s no room for racism.”
- During the civil rights movement, Lewis was named Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating, then later was named one of the “Big Six” leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington.
- Lewis went on to say he and others had been “victims of the stain, the pain and the hurt of racism” and that during the Civil Rights Movement, he was told by segregationists to “go back.” He added that the nation needs to keep moving forward and “with this vote, we meet our moral obligation to condition hate, racism, and bigotry in every form.”
- On Tuesday, the House voted 240-187 to condemn Trump’s tweets as racist, with only four Republicans and one independent voting with Democrats, according to USA Today.
Trump didn’t seem to be phased by the backlash he received. “It doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me,” Trump said Monday at the White House. “A lot of people love it, by the way.”
