Lewis and interviewer Chuck Todd had this exchange:
Chuck Todd: You have forged a relationship with many presidents. Do you plan on forging a relationship with Donald Trump? Rep. John Lewis: I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president. Todd: You do not consider him a legitimate president? Lewis: No. Todd: Why is that? Lewis: I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I don’t plan to attend the inauguration. It would be the first one that I miss since I’ve been in the Congress. You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong. Todd: That is going to send a big message to a lot of people in this country, that you don’t believe he’s a legitimate president. Lewis: I think there was a conspiracy on the part of the Russians and others to help him get elected. That’s not right. That’s not fair. That’s not the open, democratic process.
Lewis questioned the validity of the previous Republican president, George W. Bush, on multiple occasions, as well. He told the Wall Street Journal “some of us think [Al Gore] won last time” during an interview in 2001, and also supported the idea of impeaching Bush in 2005 over the NSA’s warrantless surveillance activity. “It’s a very serious charge, but he violated the law,” he said during a radio interview, according to the Associated Press. “The president should abide by the law. He deliberately, systematically violated the law. He is not king, he is president.”
