The body of late civil rights icon and Georgia Congressmember John Lewis arrived at the U.S. Capitol Monday, where he became the first Black politician to lie in state in the Rotunda. Former colleagues, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, paid tribute in a ceremony honoring Lewis’s legacy. Earlier in the day, a motorcade carrying Lewis’s coffin stopped at the Martin Luther King Jr. and Lincoln memorials and the newly established Black Lives Matter Plaza — which Lewis visited before his death — before making its way to the Capitol. Notably absent from yesterday’s ceremony was President Trump. A reporter asked Trump if he planned on paying his respects to Congressman Lewis.
Reporter: “Do you plan on paying your respects to Congressman Lewis either today or tomorrow at the Capitol?”
President Donald Trump: “No, I won’t be going. No.”
Trump did not publicly acknowledge Congressmember Lewis’s passing until 12 hours after it was announced. “Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing. Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family,” Trump tweeted.