PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage says U.S. Rep. John Lewis needs a history lesson and should be grateful for what Republican presidents have done for black people.
The Republican governor on Tuesday addressed Lewis’ criticism that GOP President-elect Donald Trump is not a “legitimate president.” LePage, who’s white, said on WVOM-FM that the black Democratic Georgia congressman needs a lesson on how Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and how Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes fought against Jim Crow laws.
LePage says, “A simple thank you should suffice.”
Lewis was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He suffered a fractured skull while marching in Selma, Alabama.
LePage also had harsh words for a Maine congresswoman who, like Lewis, is skipping the inauguration. He says Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree should resign if she doesn’t attend.
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