Civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis’ decision to question President-elect Trump’s legitimacy is “incredibly disappointing and irresponsible,” incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Reince Priebus said Sunday.
Priebus said on ABC that Lewis’ comments in a “Meet The Press” interview went against the Georgia Democrat’s life’s work of fighting for voting rights for people. He said Lewis is calling into question the legitimacy of millions of voters’ choice.
“It’s incredibly disappointing and irresponsible for people like himself to question the legitimacy of the next United States president,” Priebus said. “I think putting the United States down across the world is not something that a responsible person does.”
Lewis said in the interview that he believes the Russian government interfered in the election on Trump’s behalf, and that the interference calls into question his legitimacy. The comments came after a 35-page dossier on Trump’s relationship with the Kremlin was published. The dossier included unverified allegations, including a that the Trump campaign was in contact with the Russians.
Priebus said it’s time for President Obama and other Democratic leaders to put an end to the questioning of Trump’s legitimacy.
“They, including the president, should step up and get his people in line and tell them to grow up,” he said.
The questioning of Trump’s win is not the same as Trump questioning Obama’s legitimacy to serve as president by promoting of birther conspiracy theories, Priebus said.
Trump was the highest-profile birther, promoting the theory that Obama was born in Kenya and therefore could not serve as commander-in-chief. Priebus said it’s true that Trump and other Republicans questioned Obama’s legitimacy due to his place of birth, but never questioned the legitimacy of his election wins.
“The Democrats have made it clear, certainly, over the last few years that President Obama was born in Hawaii,” he said.
“But, we’re not questioning the legitimacy of the outcome of the election. You didn’t have Republicans questioning whether President Obama legitimately beat John McCain.”
Priebus also played down possible conflicts among Trump’s Cabinet members, many of whom disagreed with the president-elect on key policy points during their confirmation hearings this past week.
Priebus said Trump wants his choices to share their opinions and have differing points of view for him to consider. He’ll take all those viewpoints and make what he thinks is the best decision, Priebus aid.
“He has no problem with differing opinions in a room and I think he welcomes the fact that he’s got people in the room who may not agree with each other on everything,” Priebus said.
