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16th Jan 2017

Donald Trump supporters are targeting the wrong John Lewis in Twitter attack

Not again...

Tom Victor

Just when John Lewis thought he’d got over the barrage of messages that flow his way every Christmas, this has happened.

The Virginia-based computer science educator is not a retail store with a penchant for Christmas adverts – something he makes very clear on his Twitter profile after one of the stranger cases of mistaken identity out there.

But he also had to make it clear today that he is not the United States Representative for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District.

Congressman Lewis, a civil rights leader in the 1960s, has incurred the wrath of Donald Trump this week. And, as comes with the territory, abuse has followed from those siding with the President-elect.

But it seems there were more than a few people who didn’t think to make sure the abuse was going to the right John Lewis. Well, either that or they got very confused.

While complaints about customer service can easily be referred to he department store that shares his name, Lewis was considerate enough to work out that things would not be solved if he read vicious abuse and told those dishing it out ‘no, actually you mean this guy’.

Regardless, the politician, who has had many of his constituents stand up for him in the face of Trump’s pursuit, was unfortunate enough to receive similar levels of abuse himself (if not more).

At least there was one positive to take from it all.