The Latest: John Lewis rep: History refutes LePage’s remarks

PORTLAND, Maine – The Latest on Gov. Paul LePage’s comments about John Lewis and the NAACP (all times local):

3:45 p.m.

A spokeswoman for civil rights leader John Lewis says the facts of history refute what Maine Gov. Paul LePage said about how two Republican presidents fought against Jim Crow laws.

LePage on Tuesday was addressing Lewis’ criticism that GOP President-elect Donald Trump is not a “legitimate president.” LePage, who’s white, said on WVOM-FM that the black Georgia congressman needs a lesson on how Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and how Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes fought against Jim Crow laws.

Lewis is a leader of the Civil Rights Movement who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Lincoln did push to end slavery, but historians say that Jim Crow laws didn’t exist during the Grant administration and that Hayes’ presidency set the stage for the creation of Jim Crow laws.

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3:10 p.m.

Hours after saying civil rights leader John Lewis should be grateful for what Republican presidents have done for black people, Maine Gov. Paul LePage says the NAACP should apologize to white people.

The white GOP governor told the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/2j4Ywmt) that “the blacks, the NAACP” paint all white people with one brush and that calling every white American a racist is an “insult.”

Earlier Tuesday, LePage criticized Lewis over his comments that Republican Donald Trump is not a “legitimate president.” LePage said Lewis needed a history lesson and then incorrectly said that GOP Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes fought against Jim Crow laws.

The president of the NAACP Portland branch says it’s unfortunate LePage tried to revise history and disparage a civil rights leader.

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10 a.m.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage says civil rights leader John Lewis needs a history lesson and should be grateful for what Republican presidents have done for black people.

The Republican governor on Tuesday addressed Lewis’ criticism that GOP President-elect Donald Trump is not a “legitimate president.” LePage, who’s white, said on WVOM-FM that the black Democratic Georgia congressman needs a lesson on how Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and how Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes fought against Jim Crow laws.

LePage says, “A simple thank you would suffice.”

Lincoln pushed for the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. But historians say that Jim Crow laws didn’t exist during the Grant administration and that Hayes’ presidency set the stage for the creation of Jim Crow laws.

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This story has been corrected to show LePage said, “A simple thank you would suffice,” not “A simple thank you should suffice.”