President Donald Trump said Monday that he will not be visiting the U.S. Capitol to pay his respects to the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, who passed away earlier this month after a fight with pancreatic cancer.
“No, I won’t be going. No,” Trump told reporters outside the White House Monday without offering an explanation.
Just days before being sworn in as president in January 2017, Trump described Lewis—who was brutally beaten by police and white supremacists as he worked to advance civil rights in the 1960s—as “all talk” and “no action” in response to the Georgia congressman’s vow to boycott the inauguration.
“I won’t be going.”
Trump told reporters as he was leaving the White House that he would not go to pay respects to Congressman John Lewis as he lies in state at the Capitol pic.twitter.com/dkcOOvHvsY
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) July 27, 2020
Lewis will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda for several hours later Monday following a private ceremony attended by members of the legislative branch.
The late civil rights leader’s coffin will then be moved outside to the Capitol steps for a public viewing from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon.
Rep. John Lewis’ flag-draped casket is carried into the US Capitol, where an invitation-only ceremony will begin shortly.
Lewis’ body will lie in state and a public viewing will take place outdoors as a precaution due to the coronavirus pandemic https://t.co/cBqZv7pIa7 pic.twitter.com/kTWzfTFF4a
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 27, 2020