LePage told the Portland Press Herald that ‘‘the blacks, the NAACP’’ paint all white people with one brush and that calling every white American a racist is an ‘‘insult.’’

Hours after that, LePage also said the NAACP should apologize to white people.

PORTLAND, Maine — Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights leader who says he doesn’t see Donald Trump as a ‘‘legitimate president,’’ should be grateful for all that Republican presidents have done for black people, Maine Governor Paul LePage said Tuesday.

LePage, who’s white, earlier said on WVOM-FM that the black Democratic Georgia congressman needs a history lesson.


‘‘We’re sick of the silver-tongued people. How about John Lewis last week? Criticizing the president?’’ LePage, a Republican, said. ‘‘You know, I will just say this: John Lewis ought to look at history. It was Abraham Lincoln that freed the slaves. It was Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses S. Grant that fought against Jim Crow laws. A simple thank you would suffice.’’

Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and pushed for the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. But historians say LePage is wrong about Jim Crow laws.

Jim Crow laws didn’t exist during the Grant administration and an electoral deal that put Hayes in office led to the end of Reconstruction and the removal of federal troops, setting the stage for the creation of Jim Crow laws that followed, said Colby professor Dan Shea.

‘‘Paul LePage is going to give John Lewis a tutorial on the history of black oppression in the United States? That’s rich,’’ Shea said.

Lewis, a leader of the Civil Rights Movement who suffered a fractured skull while leading the march in Selma, Alabama, said last week that he would not attend Trump’s inauguration.

‘‘You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,’’ Lewis said in an interview with NBC’s ‘‘Meet the Press’’ that aired Sunday.


LePage on Tuesday also had harsh words for a Maine congresswoman who is among more than 40 House Democrats so far to say they are skipping Trump’s inauguration. He said Rep. Chellie Pingree should resign if she doesn’t attend.

‘‘They’re trying to bully us out of believing our Constitution,’’ LePage said of Democrats.

Pingree said Monday that ‘‘President-elect Trump’s actions go beyond any kind of reasonable debate_they threaten the constitutional values our country is based on.’’

Her office didn’t immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday.

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.


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