Rep. John Lewis: Trump is an ‘insult’ to civil rights event
JACKSON, Miss. — U.S. Rep John Lewis announced Thursday that he won’t speak at the opening of Mississippi civil rights and history museums, saying it’s an “insult” that President Donald Trump will attend.
The long-planned Saturday ceremony will mark Mississippi’s bicentennial of admission into the union. But what was intended as a moment of racial unity and atonement in the state with the largest share of African-Americans is descending into racial and partisan strife after Republican Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant invited fellow Republican Trump to attend.
The NAACP has said Trump should cancel his planned appearance because of his divisive record on civil rights issues.
Lewis announced his decision in a joint statement with U.S. Rep Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s only Democrat in Congress.