Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden paid his respects to the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) on Monday afternoon hours after President Trump said he “won’t be going.”
Biden was seen paying his respects to Lewis, who is lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda until Tuesday, alongside his wife Jill Biden.
On Sunday evening, Biden’s campaign announced that the former VP was set to pay his respects to the late civil rights icon. Lewis died earlier this month at the age of 80 after battling cancer.
Lewis actively supported Biden in the months before his death earlier this month, telling reporters in a call announcing his endorsement of the former VP that he believes the country needs Biden “now more than ever before.”
“We need his voice. We need his leadership now more than ever before,” Lewis told reporters in April. “We need someone who is going to get our country on the right side of history and help save our planet.”
Despite Trump’s absence, Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence are slated to pay their respects to Lewis later Monday.
Watch Biden pay his respects to Lewis below:
Biden pays his respects to the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) pic.twitter.com/r7U0enGnth
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) July 27, 2020
