Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., confirmed Friday he will not attend the State of the Union speech later this month because he can't stand to be in the same room as President Donald Trump.
Lewis, who did not attend Trump's inauguration or the first inauguration of former President George W. Bush, was asked during an appearance on MSNBC what his plans are for the Jan. 30 speech.
"At this junction, I do not plan to attend the State of the Union," Lewis said.
"I cannot in all good conscience be in the room with what he has said about so many Americans. I just cannot do it, I wouldn't be honest with myself."
Regarding the reports that claim Trump used the term "s***hole countries" to describe Haiti and certain African nations, Lewis called Trump a racist.
"I think the words and his actions tend to speak like [someone] who knows something about being a racist. It must be in his DNA, in his makeup," Lewis said. "But it's frightening to have someone in the office of the president in 2018 speaking the way that he's speaking. We've come too far, we've made too much progress to go back to fan the flames of racism and bigotry."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.