When President-elect Trump takes the oath of office on Friday, civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and a handful of his Democratic colleagues in Congress will be missing in action. Lewis, who also skipped the inauguration of George W. Bush, claims Trump is not a “legitimate” president.
Trump, of course, responded to Lewis on Twitter, calling out the congressman and his failed district. This shocked the Beltway’s sensibilities.
How could Trump dare to call out Lewis? Did Trump not know Lewis is a civil rights icon and the established liberal orthodoxy holds that criticism of Lewis is off limits?
Liberals inside the Beltway apparently felt that Lewis’ decision to diss the president-elect should be one without consequences.
“My hope would be that the president-elect would reach out to somebody as consequential as somebody who is such a leader as John Lewis,” President Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, told CNN. McDonough added that Trump was a “freely elected president” but also said Lewis’ concerns were “by no means trivial.”
Pushing aside that it’s impossible for McDonough to say Trump is freely elected while giving credence to Lewis’ lamentations, the outgoing chief of staff is offering flawed advice. Lewis’ decision may be wrong and selfishly stubborn, but it is his to make. Lewis has every right to disrespect Trump and those who elected him by staying home on Inauguration Day.
But Lewis cannot make a spectacle one day and expect a red carpet tomorrow. Rather than reach out to Lewis and his colleagues, Trump should block them out.
The idea that Trump can work with these Democrats is a myth. Lewis calls Trump illegitimate, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., eagerly hopes for impeachment proceedings, and liberals protesters will try to disrupt the inauguration.
How do you work with these people? Why would you want to work with them?
Lawmakers like Lewis do not want to find common ground, they want Trump impeached. They are not seeking to find consensus, they’re using brutish tactics to impede the agenda of a duly-elected president.
Trump won an election without the Left and he can surely govern without them. To offer the Left an olive branch would be a colossal blunder of his own making. Just ask President George H.W. Bush who reached out to work with Democrats, raised taxes, and ended up losing his re-election bid.
Democrats have made it clear Trump is their number one enemy. Trump should treat them the same way.
Joseph Murray (@realJoeMurray) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. Previously, he was a campaign official for Pat Buchanan. He is the author of “Odd Man Out” and is administrator of the LGBTrump Facebook page. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
