Trump unleashes attack on US civil rights icon

President-elect Donald Trump began a long holiday weekend that honors slain black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. by attacking another rights activist and politician who had said he does not see Trump as a "legitimate president." 

U.S. Representative John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, said on a segment of "Meet the Press" released by NBC on Jan. 13 he thought hacking by Russians had helped Trump, a Republican, get elected in November. Lewis said he does not plan to attend Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, the first time he would miss such an event since being elected to the House in 1986. 

On Jan. 14 Trump tweeted that Lewis had falsely complained about the election results and instead "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested)." 

"All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!" Trump tweeted. 

During the campaign, Trump said Democrats had failed African-Americans and Hispanics. "What the hell do you have to lose? Give me a chance," he said at a rally last year in Ohio. 

Trump won the presidency with less support from black and Hispanic voters than any president in the last 40 years, only 8 percent and 28 percent, respectively, polling data showed. 

The 76-year-old Lewis, who has been a civil rights leader for more than half a century, was beaten by police during a march he helped lead in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, drawing attention to hurdles for blacks to vote. He protested alongside King that day and on other occasions. 

"I believe in forgiveness," Lewis said in the NBC segment about Trump. "I believe in trying to work with people," he said. "It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president...