Asked if he thought Mr. Trump’s Twitter posts were appropriate given Mr. Lewis’s biography and record, Mr. Pence said that the president-elect “has the right to defend himself” and that Mr. Trump had wished to call attention to Democratic policy failures in America’s cities. 
 
 A spokesman for the Trump transition team said it would have no further comment. 
 
 Many of the members of Congress who will not attend Mr. Trump’s inauguration said they planned to instead meet with activists and focus on how to push back against Mr. Trump’s administration. 
 
 Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the dean of the House of Representatives, was among those announcing that he would not be attending the inauguration and was gearing up to fight Mr. Trump. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that accountability is brought to bear on the administration and that the Constitution and our nation’s laws are adhered to, as no one is above the law,” he wrote in a statement. 
 
 Representative Barbara Lee of California said Mr. Trump “has demeaned and insulted the African-American community, and we are going to have to really raise our voices and resist this if these views are going to be reflected in his policies.” 
 
 Others skipping the event include Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona; Maxine Waters of California; Luis V. Gutiérrez of Illinois; Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts; William Lacy Clay of Missouri; Nydia M. Velázquez, Jerrold Nadler and José E. Serrano of New York; Marcia L. Fudge of Ohio; Earl Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader of Oregon; and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin. 
 
 Mr. Trump had scant support in the black community before his transition began; only about 8 percent of blacks voted for him on Nov. 8. The relationship seemed further imperiled when Mr. Trump appointed his White House chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, who some people fear will bring nationalist and racist views to the West Wing. 
 
 The Rev. Al Sharpton, who led a march on Saturday in Washington, said Mr. Trump’s Twitter posts drove more people to brave the cold to demonstrate. ||||| Yes, it is. In fact, it’s an act of patriotism. 
 
 By any reasonable standard, the 2016 election was deeply tainted. It wasn’t just the effects of Russian intervention on Mr. Trump’s behalf; Hillary Clinton would almost surely have won if the F.B.I. hadn’t conveyed the false impression that it had damaging new information about her, just days before the vote. This was grotesque, delegitimizing malfeasance, especially in contrast with the agency’s refusal to discuss the Russia connection. 
 
 Was there even more to it? Did the Trump campaign actively coordinate with a foreign power? Did a cabal within the F.B.I. deliberately slow-walk investigations into that possibility? Are the lurid tales about adventures in Moscow true? We don’t know, although Mr. Trump’s creepy obsequiousness to Vladimir Putin makes it hard to dismiss these allegations. Even given what we do know, however, no previous U.S. president-elect has had less right to the title. So why shouldn’t we question his legitimacy? 
 
 And talking frankly about how Mr. Trump gained power isn’t just about truth-telling. It may also help to limit that power. 
 
 It would be one thing if the incoming commander in chief showed any hint of humility, of realizing that his duty to the nation requires showing some respect for the strong majority of Americans who voted against him despite Russian meddling and the F.B.I.’s disinformation dump. But he hasn’t and won’t. 
 
 Instead, he’s lashing out at and threatening anyone and everyone who criticizes him, while refusing even to admit that he lost the popular vote. And he’s surrounding himself with people who share his contempt for everything that is best in America. What we’re looking at, all too obviously, is an American kakistocracy — rule by the worst. ||||| Archive-It Partner 1067: The Political TV Ad Archive, a project of the Internet Archive, collects political TV ads and social media sites in key 2016 primary election states, unlocking the metadata underneath and highlighting quality journalism to provide journalists, civic organizations, academics, and the general public with reliable information on who is trying to influence them & how. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Donald Trump was widely criticised for his attack on civil rights hero John Lewis 
 
 The number of Democratic members of Congress saying they will boycott Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday has increased to 26. 
 
 Many have cited as a reason the president-elect's recent attack on civil rights icon and fellow congressman John Lewis. 
 
 Mr Trump lashed out at Mr Lewis on Twitter on Friday after Mr Lewis said he was not a "legitimate president". 
 
 He said that Mr Lewis was: "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results." 
 
 Mr Lewis was a prominent member of America's civil rights movement and is a hero to many Americans. He was among those beaten by police during the infamous Selma-Montgomery voting rights march of 1965. 
 
 As Americans celebrate Martin Luther King Day, the children of the slain civil rights leader - a contemporary of Mr Lewis - have spoken out about the spat. 
 
 Martin Luther King III played down the row following a meeting with Mr Trump in New York that he described as "very constructive". 
 
 He said that in the heat of the moment "a lot of things get said on both sides". 
 
 But his sister Bernice King told a church audience in Atlanta that "God can triumph over Trump". 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption John Lewis tells Americans to continue to speak out against hate in MLK day address. 
 
 Mr Lewis joined the House of Representatives in 1987 and has served Georgia's fifth congressional district, which Mr Trump went on to call "crime-infested", ever since. 
 
 The president-elect's insults, made just days ahead of Martin Luther King Day, were the final straw for a number of Democrats, who will break with tradition by missing the inauguration ceremony on Friday. 
 
 "When you insult Rep John Lewis, you insult America," said Yvette Clarke, one of five representatives for New York who will boycott the event. There are 535 members of Congress, across both houses. 
 
 More on this story 
 
 John Lewis book sales soar after Donald Trump row 
 
 Inauguration blues: Why pop stars won't play for Trump 
 
 Anthony Zurcher: Ethics concerns swirl around Trump team 
 
 California representative Ted Lieu said: "For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis." 
 
 Illinois representative Luis Gutierrez was the first member of Congress to say he would boycott the inauguration - announcing his decision in December. 
 
 "I could not look my wife, my daughters, or my grandson in the eye if I sat there and attended, as if everything that the candidate said about the women, the Latinos, the blacks, the Muslims, or any of those other things he said in those speeches and tweets, and that all of that is OK or erased from our collective memory," Mr Gutierrez told the House. 
 
 He has said he will attend the alternative Women's March on Washington the following day. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Representative Katherine Clark (centre) is among those who will boycott the ceremony 
 
 Mr Lewis's announcement of his own boycott in an interview with NBC News, in which he said that Mr Trump was an illegitimate president, prompted the outburst from the president-elect. 
 
 Mr Trump's inauguration will be the second not attended by Mr Lewis in his 30 years in Congress. 
 
 The Georgia congressman cited alleged Russian interference in the election among his reasons for regarding Mr Trump as illegitimate. 
 
 He also did not attend George W Bush's inauguration in 2001. 
 
 "You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong," he told NBC News. 
 
 Sales of Mr Lewis's memoir soared to the top of Amazon's US best-seller list following Mr Trump's attack, eventually selling out completely. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Democrat lawmaker, Mark DeSaulnier, tells the BBC why he is boycotting Trump's inauguration 
 
 Mr Lewis led a sit-in protest at the House of Representatives in July to demand a vote on gun control legislation, in the wake of the deadly Orlando shooting. 
 
 Republicans adjourned the House early to try to quash the sit-in, switching off the TV cameras, but the C-Span network picked up live streams from some Democrats' phones. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The moment congressman John Lewis asked Democrats to take action 
 
 Katherine Clark, a representative for Massachusetts, was among the first to join Mr Lewis for the gun control protest. Ms Clark said last week she would skip Mr Trump's inauguration. 
 
 "Families in my district are fearful that the anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and divisive promises that drove the Trump campaign will become the policies affecting the health and safety of every American," she said in a statement. 
 
 "I do not feel that I can contribute to the normalisation of the president-elect's divisive rhetoric by participating in the inauguration." 
 
 Mr Trump has struggled to book any established musicians to perform at his ceremony, despite his team appearing to have cast a wide net. 
 
 The event will feature Jackie Evancho, a 16-year-old America's Got Talent contestant, alongside military bands and the Radio City Rockettes, although some members of the Rockettes troupe have publicly refused to take part. 
 
 Country music stars including Toby Keith will play a concert on the eve of the inauguration. 
 
 Update 23 January 2017: This story has been updated following confirmation from John Lewis's office that he also missed Mr Bush's inauguration ceremony in 2001. ||||| At a Dr. Martin Luther King Day Jr. breakfast in his honor, civil rights icon and recent target of President-elect Donald Trump's ire — Georgia Democrat Rep. John Lewis — eschewed his prepared remarks and spoke candidly about his remarkable personal journey. He described his impoverished childhood in Alabama and his career as an activist, which eventually sparked a long political career. 
 
 Lewis delivered the address to a group of young African-American men as part of the 5000 Role Models' of Excellence Project's annual scholarship breakfast in Miami on Monday. His comments came amid a firestorm generated by his recent assertion on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Trump is not a "legitimate" president-elect. The president-elect quickly took to Twitter to deem the lawmaker as "all talk" and call his congressional district "crime infested." 
 
 Related: Rep. Lewis: I Would Not Invite Trump to Selma 
 
 On Monday, Lewis chose not to rehash the controversy or engage Trump, instead focusing on his political evolution and the cause of his life — expanding the right to vote to as many eligible people as possible. 
 
 "The vote is precious is almost sacred it is the most powerful not violent instrument or tool that we have in a democratic society and we must use it," Lewis said Monday. 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Donald Trump feuds with Rep. John Lewis on Twitter, asks for 'all the help I can get' 2:51 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 The Democrat also reiterated the virtues of non-violence, which he championed as a young activist alongside Dr. Martin Luther King at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. 
 
 "The way of love is a better way, the way of peace is a better way," Lewis said. 
 
 In the speech, Lewis was also defiant about the need to stand up for your principles regardless of the risks. 
 
 "Never give up, never give in. Stand up, speak up. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something, to say something and not be quiet," Lewis said, his voice rising with emotion. "The scars and stains of racism are deeply embedded in American society." 
 
 He went on to tell the audience at the scholarship breakfast that they are "more than lucky" to live in a world shaped by King's sacrifices. 
 
 From left center, John Lewis (holding bottle), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, march for civil rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, March 19, 1965. Others unidentified. AP 
 
 "If it hadn’t been for Martin Luther King, Jr. I wouldn’t be a member of the House of Representatives since 1987," said Lewis. "He freed us he helped liberate us to make our nation a better place, to make our world a better place." 
 
 Lewis, who King nicknamed "the boy from Troy" because of his courageous efforts to integrate what would eventually become Troy University in Alabama, is the lone surviving keynote speaker from the historic 1963 March on Washington. He is one of the only figures involved whose speech was censored by the organizers because it was deemed too politically incendiary. 
 
 Related: Trump is Not a Legitimate President: Civil Rights Icon Rep. John Lewis 
 
 And while those efforts helped turn Lewis into a hero for many Americans (including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who described the Congressman "as the most extraordinary figures in America, a true American hero" at Monday's event), it also left him with a fractured skull, which he suffered at the end of billy club wielded by police on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma during a protest gone awry in 1965. 
 
 Today, Lewis looks back on his acts of civil disobedience as an effort to cause "good trouble" for a noble cause. And he hasn't slowed down, despite the fact that he will turn 77 this year. 
 
 I'm on the House floor with @repjohnlewis & Dems staging a sit-in to demand action on commonsense gun legislation pic.twitter.com/byIivby5gG — Rep. John Yarmuth (@RepJohnYarmuth) June 22, 2016 
 
 In just the past year, he's drawn criticism (and praise) for leading a late-night sit-in on Capital Hill to protest inaction on gun control legislation and for testifying against Trump's pick for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions. 
 
 He concluded Monday's event by making the case for being ambitious about education and participation in the democratic process, telling the young men: "Never give up your dreams ... just go for it." ||||| ATLANTA — In his war of words with Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis, President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter , scolding the longtime representative but also taking swipes at his district, saying it was “falling apart” and “crime-infested.” 
 
 News of the dilapidated and crime-ridden state of the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia came as a surprise to many of the more than 700,000 people who live here, an area that covers much... ||||| One of the highest elected officials in one of Georgia’s most diverse counties waded into controversial territory over the weekend when he wrote a Facebook post calling U.S. Rep. John Lewis – a Civil Rights legend already locked in a war of words with president-elect Donald Trump – a “racist pig.” 
 
 The reaction to Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter, a Republican, taking on Lewis a few days before the holiday honoring the life of counterpart Martin Luther King Jr. was varied – but swift. 
 
 Many took to the comments section of Hunter’s Facebook posts to support him. Others did quite the opposite. 
 
 “Hunter is a disgrace to Gwinnett County in particular and Georgia in general, and he should apologize for those comments,” Gwinnett Democratic Party Chairman Gabe Okoye told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 
 
 He later called for Hunter to resign. 
 
 Hunter, who was first elected to Gwinnett’s Board of Commissioners in 2012 and narrowly won re-election in November, made the Facebook post in question on Saturday afternoon. It came amid a well-publicized feud between Lewis and Trump, which started when Lewis told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he didn’t view Trump as a “legitimate president.” 
 
 Trump then responded on Twitter, calling Lewis “all talk” and proclaiming his Congressional district — which includes most of the city of Atlanta — to be “in terrible shape and falling apart.” 
 
 In addition to calling Lewis “a racist pig,” the subsequent Facebook post from Hunter – whose Gwinnett district lies many miles east of Lewis’ congressional one – referred to “Demonrats” as “a bunch of idiots.” 
 
 A recent Facebook post from Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter. (Facebook screenshot) 
 
 On Sunday afternoon, Hunter addressed Lewis on Facebook a second time, calling his election wins “all illegitimate.” 
 
 A recent Facebook post from Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter. 
 
 Hunter later posted an image that included this phrase: “If you’re easily offended and looking for a ‘safe place’ my page ain’t it.. Move along snowflake.” 
 
 Sometime shortly before 11 a.m. Monday, however, the “racist pig” post was no longer on Hunter’s timeline. The page’s privacy settings also appeared to be changed, but the other posts mentioned above were still visible to “friends” and “followers” — along with additional posts mocking U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, asking if there were “any white guys" on the University of Alabama’s football team and criticizing Gov. Nathan Deal’s decision to declare a state of emergency ahead of last weekend’s ultimately uneventful winter storm. 
 
 In November, he used the word “libtard” in a comment on one of his own Facebook posts. 
 
 The privacy changes on Hunter’s Facebook page were likely in response to an influx of nasty comments, many of which called the commissioner disparaging names or urged him to “stay classy.” 
 
 Hunter is the vice president of a local environmental testing firm and, prior to his time on the Board of Commissioners, worked in the county’s department of public utilities and served on its water and sewage authority (2005-09) and its planning commission (2011-12). Controversial or contentious votes are generally few and far between for Gwinnett’s Board of Commissioners, but Hunter represents himself as a staunch conservative. 
 
 He represents District 3, which covers a wide (and diverse) swath of southern and eastern Gwinnett, including parts of Snellville, Loganville, Grayson and Dacula. 
 
 Though much of suburban Gwinnett remains a Republican stronghold, Hillary Clinton won the county in November’s presidential election. It was the first time a Democrat took Gwinnett since Jimmy Carter in 1976. 
 
 Gwinnett is the second-most populous county in Georgia and is also a majority-minority county, meaning non-white residents account for more than half of its population. 
 
 Hunter’s fellow commissioners, all Republicans, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. Nor did several other local, state and federal Republican party members with Gwinnett ties. 
 
 Some local Democrats were happy to weigh in, however. 
 
 Georgia State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick, whose District 93 touches part of Hunter’s Gwinnett territory, shared her thoughts on Twitter, saying she was “ashamed” of him. 
 
 I'm ashamed he represents the GWINNETT portion of my district. https://t.co/NNfAY1FM3Z — Dar'shun Kendrick (@DarshunKendrick) January 16, 2017 
 
 For his part, Hunter later told The AJC that his “racist pig” comment was “probably an overreaction out of aggravation” — but he didn’t back down from the rest of his message. 
 
 In a lengthy message sent to a reporter, he defended Trump, saying the president-elect isn’t racist and downplaying reports of Russian hacking possibly influencing the election. 
 
 “While I am grateful for what the Congressman did in Selma and other times during the civil rights movement, you get respect by showing respect,” Hunter wrote. “He is using his fame as a way to continually divide the races and in this case standing on the very much unsubstantiated claim that the guy I voted for [Trump] is racist and only won because of Russians hacking the election—which, of course, we all know didn't occur.” 
 
 “So, true to exactly what the political pundits said would happen, he makes the claim that Trump, and all of us that voted for him, are illegitimate,” Hunter’s message continued. “Therefore I claim [Lewis] is illegitimate and make just as many unsubstantiated claims as [Trump] does. After all, in today's world, it's not about the evidence, but the seriousness of the charges.” 
 
 Shortly after sending that message, Hunter took to Facebook again — this time to wish his followers a “Happy MLK Day.” 
 
 A recent Facebook post from Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter. 
 
 Gwinnett County’s annual parade celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. was held Monday morning in Lawrenceville. Donna McLeod, a Democrat who narrowly lost her bid last year for Georgia House District 105, which is partially in Hunter’s district, was there. 
 
 She said she wasn’t surprised by Hunter’s comments. 
 
 “This is the kind of campaign that the president-elect ran,” McLeod said. 
 
 Susan Clymer, another member of the Gwinnett County Democratic Party, said she thinks Lewis represents everything that King would have – fighting injustice and inequality. 
 
 “This Tommy Hunter is painting a horrible picture of Gwinnett County,” Clymer said. “He’s reflecting poorly on all of us, black, white or whatever.” 
 
 Not all of the feedback on Hunter’s comments was negative, though. On Monday afternoon, a woman who described herself as a personal friend of Hunter’s posted on his Facebook page. 
 
 “He is a fantastic man with an exceptional heart, and that’s all that matters,” she wrote. “So what if he openly put his view on [Facebook]. We ALL do a little too much of that. So if expressing yourself on [Facebook] is now wrong we all need to get off.” 
 
 Hunter and the rest of Gwinnett’s Board of Commissioners are scheduled to have their next bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday. 
 
 —Staff writer Lauren Foreman contributed to this article. Please return to AJC.com for updates. ||||| Donald Trump met with Martin Luther King III on Monday, a holiday commemorating the life of King's father, which this year was marked by Trump’s quarrel with Rep. John Lewis, a hero of the civil rights struggle. 
 
 King, the oldest surviving child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., described the meeting at Trump Tower as constructive and said it had centered on efforts to improve the voting system. 
 
 Asked by reporters about Trump’s characterization Saturday of Lewis as “all talk … no action,” King said he “absolutely” disagreed. 
 
 “I would say John Lewis has demonstrated that he is action,” King said. 
 
 But, he added, “Things get said on both sides in the heat of emotion. And at some point in this nation, we’ve got to move forward.” 
 
 The conflict between the president-elect and Lewis began Friday when NBC’s “Meet the Press” released video of Lewis saying he did not consider Trump a legitimate president. 
 
 On Saturday, Trump responded via Twitter, criticizing Lewis and referring to his Atlanta-area congressional district as downtrodden and crime-ridden. Actually, it includes many of the city's high-end areas. 
 
 King said that Trump told him that he intended to represent all Americans. 
 
 “I believe that’s his intent,” King said. “I believe we have to consistently engage with pressure, public pressure.” 
 
 In his reference to voting, King appeared to be referring to difficulties faced by African American voters, many of them due to restrictive laws put into effect by Republican legislators. 
 
 Trump, during his campaign, suggested that voters in overwhelmingly African American cities like Philadelphia could be planning to steal the election via voter fraud. 
 
 After the meeting, Trump accompanied King down the elevator and shook his hand before returning upstairs. He did not speak to reporters.
– Donald Trump's feud with civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia was making political headlines on Martin Luther King Day. (The background on the feud is here.) Coverage: The New York Times explores how it further frays Trump's ties with an African-American community already wary of him. "I don't think we have ever had a president so publicly condescending to what black politics means," says a Duke professor. A GOP county commissioner in Georgia's Gwinnett County, Tommy Hunter, is facing calls to resign after he wrote online that Lewis is a "racist pig." See the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In a speech marking MLK Day, Lewis did not mention Trump, instead telling personal stories of his own civil rights battles and preaching non-violence. "The way of love is a better way," he said, per NBC News. Michelle Obama tweeted her support of Lewis today. Martin Luther King III met with Trump Monday, and while he praised Lewis, he also sought to tamp down the controversy. “Things get said on both sides in the heat of emotion. And at some point in this nation, we’ve got to move forward.” See the Los Angeles Times. So far, nearly 28 Democratic members of Congress vow to skip the inauguration, reports the BBC. A blogger at the liberal Daily Kos says Lewis went too far in saying Trump was not a "legitimate president." Democrats must admit it or face charges of hypocrisy, reads the post here. Mike Pence is "so disappointed" in Lewis, he tells Fox News. Trump slammed Lewis' Atlanta district as crime-ridden and "falling apart," and those who live there were surprised to hear it and eager to rebut the charge. See the Wall Street Journal. Columnist Paul Krugman defends Lewis' original slam of Trump as "an act of patriotism." Read it in the New York Times. Columnist David Weigel writes that Democrats, including Lewis, appear to have learned that "explosive rhetoric" of the sort mastered by Trump is the new normal. Welcome to the "New Rudeness," he writes at the Washington Post.