Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Blasts Trump Over Remarks About John Lewis
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms harshly criticized President Trump’s comments about the late Georgia congressman John Lewis, calling him a “narcissist” and saying she was “disgusted” by his remarks in a recent interview.
In an interview with Axios.com published Tuesday (Aug. 4), Trump said that he couldn’t say “one way or the other” if he was impressed by Lewis, who is regarded as a civil rights icon. “I find a lot of people impressive. I find many people not impressive” Trump said. But, while not being directly critical of Lewis, he mentioned that he did not participate in the inauguration and other events.
RELATED: John Lewis Dead at 80; Civil Rights Icon and Congressman Passes After Pancreatic Cancer Fight
“He didn't come to my inauguration,” Trump said. “He didn't come to my State of the Union speeches. And that's OK. That's his right. And, again, nobody has done more for Black Americans than I have.”
Lewis died July 17 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. After his death, Trump did tweet that he was “saddened” over the congressman’s passing.
Bottoms was incensed by Trump’s comments and urged voters to remove him from office in the presidential election in November.
“Donald Trump shows us time and time again that the only thing he believes in is himself,” Bottoms told CNN. “He doesn’t care anything about the American people, he doesn't care anything about the history of this country, he doesn’t care anything about the future of this country.”
Lewis had a contentious relationship relationship with Trump and said in 2017 that he would not come to the inauguration because he felt Trump was not a “legitimate president.” He told NBC’s “Meet The Press” at the time that Russian hackers interfered with the election and undermined then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
In the Axios interview, Trump said that Lewis made a “big mistake” by not coming to the inauguration.
Bottoms addressed Trump’s ignorance of Lewis’ selfless legacy.
"He's a narcissist and he is delusional. The only person that believes that is him," Bottoms said about Trump. "He's done nothing for African-Americans in this country, and to speak that in the same sentence as speaking of John Lewis is almost blasphemous.
“If this man is allowed to serve as president for another four years, we will be in even more trouble than we are in now,” she continued. “He is destroying our democracy in real time, and we have to respond in the best way that we know how, the way that John Lewis taught us to respond, that is, to show up and vote.”
