The incoming White House press secretary blasted civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on a holiday honoring America’s most iconic civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr.
On Monday, Sean Spicer blamed Lewis, who helped lead the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, over 50 years ago, for provoking President-elect Donald Trump’s most recent Twitter rant. Trump attacked Lewis on Sunday, a few days after the congressman had questioned the legitimacy of the president-elect in light of information that Russian hackers attempted to influence the 2016 election.
The tweets came after Lewis told NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Friday, “I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president. I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected and they have destroyed the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”
“Congressman Lewis started this,” Spicer said Monday.
He continued: “To see somebody of John Lewis’ stature, an iconic nature, who has worked so hard to enfranchise people and talk about getting people involved in our voting systems and talking about the integrity of our voting system ― to then go out when the candidate of his choice doesn’t win and try to talk about the delegitimization of the election is, frankly, disappointing.”
Spicer claimed there is “zero evidence” of tampering despite a recent report from the U.S. intelligence community that said it believes Russian President Vladimir Putin directed cyberattacks on American servers with the aim of helping Trump win the election.
The president-elect is scheduled to meet with Martin Luther King III, the civil rights icon’s oldest son, Monday in New York.