Al Sharpton: The process that elected Trump was ‘not legitimate’

Al Sharpton: The process that elected Trump was ‘not legitimate’
Sharpton (MSNBC)

Story by Yahoo
Written by Dylan Stableford

The Rev. Al Sharpton says he agrees with Rep. John Lewis’ view that the election of Donald Trump was “not legitimate.”

“There’s no question that the process that elected him was not legitimate,” Sharpton said in an appearance on MSNBC on Monday night.

The activist and talk-show host said evidence collected by U.S. intelligence agencies showing the Russian government’s interference during the campaign “clearly” raises “serious questions” about Trump’s victory.

Sharpton said Trump’s tweets showed “disrespect” by “attacking a living icon.”

“To come from John Lewis, a man who was beaten on the bridge in Selma, Ala., to get the Voting Rights Act, that opened up the voting rights process to everyone — he has some blood in this,” Sharpton said. “You should not take lightly his view at all.”

“He claimed he was going to give a new deal to black Americans,” Sharpton said of Trump. “Is this the new deal? When you disparage one of our living icons? Is this the new deal, when you disparage a congressional district? I think that the president-elect needs to take a long, hard look at the fact that he’s a few days of being inaugurated and he’s got to fulfill the commitment that he will be a bigger person.”

Late last week, Lewis told NBC’s Chuck Todd that he is planning to boycott Trump’s inauguration because the Kremlin’s apparent intrusion in the U.S. election delegitimizes Trump’s victory.

“I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” Lewis said.

In response, Trump fired off a series of tweets saying Lewis — a civil rights icon who was beaten while marching in Selma, Ala., in 1965 — was “all talk” and should “spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested).”

Sharpton said Trump’s tweets showed “disrespect” by “attacking a living icon.”

“To come from John Lewis, a man who was beaten on the bridge in Selma, Ala., to get the Voting Rights Act, that opened up the voting rights process to everyone — he has some blood in this,” Sharpton said. “You should not take lightly his view at all.”

“He claimed he was going to give a new deal to black Americans,” Sharpton said of Trump. “Is this the new deal? When you disparage one of our living icons? Is this the new deal, when you disparage a congressional district? I think that the president-elect needs to take a long, hard look at the fact that he’s a few days of being inaugurated and he’s got to fulfill the commitment that he will be a bigger person.”

Link:
http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676
https://www.yahoo.com/news/al-sharpton-the-process-that-elected-trump-was-not-legitimate-162351096.html