A member of the board of commissioners in Gwinnett County, Georgia–the second most populous county in the state–called civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) a “racist pig” in a Facebook post Saturday after Lewis said he didn’t consider President-elect Donald Trump to be a “legitimate” president.
In posts unearthed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tommy Hunter, a Republican county commissioner, also referred to Lewis’ party as “Demonrats” and “a bunch of idiots.”
“John Lewis is a racist pig,” one post begins. “There ain’t political pundit that didn’t say on November 9 that this would be Demonrats’ EXACT response to Trump winning.”
On Friday, Lewis said he did not consider Trump a “legitimate” president, and that he would not attend the presidential inauguration. He justified his decision by saying that a Russian “conspiracy” had damaged Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and helped Trump’s.
Trump, the next day, called Lewis “all talk,” and insulted Lewis’ congressional district on Twitter.
Hunter weighed in on the controversy on his Facebook, screenshots of which were capture by the Journal-Constitution:
Though Gwinnett County is at certain points just a couple miles away from Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, which Lewis represents, the Journal-Constitution noted that Hunter represents a district in the eastern end of the county, miles away from Atlanta.
Hunter later said in a Facebook message to the Journal-Constitution that calling Lewis a “racist pig” was “probably an overreaction out of aggravation.”
“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 said. “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.”
