#Trump offers praise to former foe Rep. John Lewis after his death

President Trump tweeted only once Saturday, posting a simple message that praised the late Rep. John Lewis as a “civil rights hero.”

Lewis, who had represented Georgia for decades in the House, died Friday in Atlanta at the age of 80. He had advanced pancreatic cancer.

“Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family.”

Lewis, the son of Alabama sharecroppers, made his name as one of the original Freedom Riders in the early 1960s. In 1963, at just 23, he was a keynote speaker at the March on Washington alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump also issued an official White House proclamation ordering federal flags to fly at half-staff in Washington and at US embassies and military bases worldwide “as a mark of respect for the memory and longstanding public service” of the 17-term congressman.

But Lewis and the president were often at odds. The lawmaker boycotted Trump’s inauguration in 2017, spurring at least 60 other Democrats to follow.

On Saturday, Trump let his surrogates take the lead in praising Lewis.

Vice President Mike Pence,  in a lengthy emotional statement posted on Twitter, described Lewis as “a great man whose courage and public service changed America forever.”

Pence, who served alongside Lewis for six terms in Congress, called him “a colleague and a friend” whose “selflessness and conviction rendered our nation into a more perfect union.”

“Even when we differed, John was always unfailingly kind,” Pence wrote.

Clarence Henderson, a member of Trump’s “Black Voices for Trump” campaign arm, said Lewis “dedicated his life and career to bettering our country.”

“We will forever be grateful for the legacy he leaves as we pray for him and his family,” Henderson said on behalf of the Trump campaign.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany also offered tributes.

“He leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten,” she tweeted.

But some in Lewis’ circle were not moved by White House words.

“Please let us mourn in peace,” Rep. Karen Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, tweeted Saturday morning in a message directed at Trump.

“While the nation mourns the passing of a national hero, please say nothing,” Bass pleaded.

Funeral arrangements for Lewis have yet been announced, but Fox News reported that the widely admired congressman’s body is likely to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol in the coming days — an honor that has been extended to only 36 American citizens in the nation’s history.