President Trump declined to speculate how history will remember the late civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis but said he isn’t opposed to naming a bridge after him.
In an interview with Axios that aired Monday night, Trump was unwilling to say if Lewis was an impressive figure, adding that no figure has done more for black people than his administration. He repeatedly noted that Lewis did not attend his inauguration and State of the Union addresses.
“He chose not to come to my inauguration. I never met John Lewis, actually. I don’t believe,” Trump said. When asked, Trump said he also couldn’t say if he believes Lewis was an impressive figure. “I can’t say one way or the other. I find a lot of people impressive. I find a lot of people not impressive,” Trump continued.
“Taking your relationship out of it, do you find his story impressive? What he’s done for this country?” reporter Jonathan Swan asked.
“He was a person that devoted a lot of energy and a lot of heart to civil rights, but there were many others also,” Trump said.
Trump also said he has “no objection” to renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, after the late civil rights icon.
