A.J. Perez

USA TODAY Sports

Jim Brown, one of the sports world's most notable civil rights crusaders, took aim Wednesday at another legend of the movement: Rep. John Lewis.



“John Lewis has great history as a civil rights fighter,” Brown said on CNN. “As a young man, he was one of the guys out there who was leading the parades during the (Martin Luther) King (Jr.) era. So, we all respect his history. But then I hear him crying the blues about Mr. Trump and saying he’s an illegitimate president, I take offense to that. If it’s illegitimate, why is he going on?”

Lewis, D-Ga., said in an interview last week that he did not view Trump as a "legitimate president" because Russia “helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.” Lewis is among more than 50 lawmakers boycotting President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday.

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Trump responded to Lewis’ views on Twitter, suggesting Lewis spend less time worrying about the election results and more time working on his "horrible" and "crime-infested” congressional district.

“If you’re going to impeach him, impeach him,” Brown continued. “If he did something wrong, arrest him. But don’t cry the blues because you didn’t get the vote out and this man had a genius way of winning the election.”

Brown, 80, is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was a three-time MVP during his nine-season career with the Cleveland Browns. After his NFL tenure concluded at age 30, Brown also became more involved in the civil rights movement and he founded multiple organizations to help the unrepresented and underprivileged.

One of those organizations, Amer-I-Can Program, has an pre-inauguration party scheduled for Thursday. As of Wednesday morning, there were four people going, according to the organization’s Facebook page.

The event, sponsored by a fireworks company, costs $1,000 to attend. The party’s featured guests include former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis, former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo, former Indiana men’s basketball coach Bobby Knight and former reality show star Omarosa Manigault, according to the flyer.

Brown told CNN that former New England Patriots and New York Jets running back Curtis Martin would also be in attendance.