Flags lowered to half-staff at the White House and Capitol to honor the late Rep. John Lewis

WASHINGTON – Flags have been lowered to half-staff at the Capitol and the White House, public buildings, and military bases as lawmakers honored Rep. Jonn Lewis’ death. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill announced the lowering of flags at the Capitol in a Saturday morning tweet.

“Speaker Pelosi has ordered the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff due to the passing of Congressman John Lewis,” Hammill wrote.  

The flag at the White House was lowered to half-staff as well. In a proclamation released Saturday morning, President Donald Trump ordered flags to half-staff at public buildings and military installations throughout the country “as a mark of respect for the memory and longstanding public service of Representative John Lewis.” Trump had not yet made a public statement on Lewis’ death as of mid-morning Saturday. 

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement on Twitter Saturday morning hailing the late congressman as an “icon of the civil rights movement” with an “enduring legacy that will never be forgotten.” 

More: Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who began pushing for racial justice in the Jim Crow south, has died

Trump arrived this morning at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. 

Lewis, who was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in December last year, died Friday night at the age of 80.    

In 2017, Trump lashed out at Lewis, accusing him of being “all talk…no action or results,” after the congressman said he would skip Trump’s inauguration and considered Trump an illegitimate president because of Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

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