US Congressman: 'Trump is not a legitimate president'

US Congressman John Lewis said he does not recognize President-elect Donald Trump's role as head of the White House.

US Congressman John Lewis. Photo: AFP

"I do not consider this president-elect to be a legitimate president," NBC News quoted Mr. Lewis as saying today.

Explaining this, the congressman mentioned the accusations of Russian cyber attacks during last year's US presidential election. He said that Moscow's interference led to the disclosure of internal information from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton's campaign co-chair, John Podesta.

"I think the Russians were involved in helping this man get elected. They helped sabotage Mrs. Clinton's candidacy," Mr. Lewis said.

Asked if he would try to improve relations with the president-elect, Mr Lewis said he believed in forgiveness, but added "it would be difficult".

US President-elect Trump admitted on January 11 that Russia had interfered in the election, but argued that any foreign interference had no impact on the outcome.

Mr. Lewis said he had no plans to attend Mr. Trump's inauguration, saying it was the first one he had not attended since becoming a congressman.

“You can't be happy and comfortable with something that you feel is wrong, that isn't right,” he said.

In response to Lewis's assessment, President-elect Trump posted a series of tweets, saying the longtime Georgia congressman should "spend more time fixing and helping his district, which is in terrible shape and is divided, not to mention infested with crime, than falsely complaining about the election results."

Rep. Lewis is a civil rights leader who represents a district that covers most of downtown Atlanta and historically black schools.

According to VNE