The dead man who defeated Trump: John Lewis's district to deal final blow?

Results from counties represented by late civil rights leader have crushed GOP

trump john lewis A collage of John Lewis (Wikipedia Commons) and US President Donald Trump (AP)

As counting in the US presidential elections continues into the third day, will the legacy of an iconic civil rights leader seal President Donald Trump's fate?

Trump desperately needed to win the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada to have any chances of winning re-election. However, Democratic contender Joe Biden took a lead in counting in Georgia early on Friday morning (US time).

At 5am (US Eastern Time), Biden had secured a lead of just over 1,000 votes in Georgia, with over 98 per cent votes counted in the state. The 16 Electoral College seats of Georgia will take Biden comfortably over the figure of 270 seats needed to claim victory in the election.

Ironically, Biden's late surge in vote share was propelled by counting of ballots from Georgia's 5th Congressional district, which was long represented by John Lewis, an iconic Civil Rights leader. John Lewis served 17 terms as the representative for Georgia's 5th Congressional district. John Lewis died in July at the age of 80 from cancer.

At 5am (US Eastern Time) on Friday, The New York Times showed Biden leading Trump in three counties of the 5th Congressional district: Clayton, Dekalb and Fulton.

Biden was ahead in Clayton county by 93 629 votes to Trump's 15,595, leading in Dekalb by 305,197 votes to Trump's 57,993 votes and in Fulton by 373,569 votes to 135,093 votes.

Bitter relationship

Trump was severely criticised for refusing to praise John Lewis after the latter's death. In an interview with Axios in August, Trump was asked how history would remember John Lewis. Trump replied, "I don’t know. I really don’t know. I never met John Lewis; I don’t believe."

John Lewis has been considered a pioneer among Black politicians. However, when asked about John Lewis's legacy, Trump told Axios, “nobody has done more for Black Americans than I have”.

Trump found fault with John Lewis for not attending his inauguration in 2017 and his state of the Union speeches and said, "He should’ve come. I think he made a big mistake.”

Trump was also attacked for not paying his respects to John Lewis's casket when it lay in state on Capitol Hill and not attending his funeral in Atlanta.

Lewis had decided to skip Trump's inauguration, alleging the Republican was not a "legitimate president". True to form, Trump attacked John Lewis on Twitter for his inauguration day boycott announcement. Trump tweeted, "Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart".

Lewis became a notable figure in the US Civil Rights moment and worked alongside Martin Luther King Junior. Lewis “led the historic March on Washington in 1963 and was severely injured by Alabama state troopers in a 1965 march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery," CNBC reported in 2017.

One more curse?

Trump's hostile relationship with John S. McClain, the veteran US senator from Arizona, has been identified as one factor in him trailing in Arizona. Trump also did not attend McCain's funeral in 2018.

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