President Trump tweeted only after Saturday, publishing a uncomplicated message that praised the late Rep. John Lewis as a “civil rights hero.”

Lewis, who experienced represented Ga for many years in the Dwelling, died Friday in Atlanta at the age of 80. He had superior pancreatic cancer.

“Saddened to listen to the news of civil legal rights hero John Lewis passing,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Melania and I send our prayers to he and his relatives.”

Lewis, the son of Alabama sharecroppers, produced his name as just one of the authentic Freedom Riders in the early 1960s. In 1963, at just 23, he was a keynote speaker at the March on Washington along with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump also issued an formal White Residence proclamation ordering federal flags to fly at 50 %-workers in Washington and at US embassies and military services bases around the globe “as a mark of regard for the memory and longstanding public service” of the 17-term congressman.

But Lewis and the president had been typically at odds. The lawmaker boycotted Trump’s inauguration in 2017, spurring at least 60 other Democrats to abide by.

On Saturday, Trump let his surrogates acquire the lead in praising Lewis.

Vice President Mike Pence,  in a prolonged emotional statement posted on Twitter, described Lewis as “a good guy whose courage and public support altered The us permanently.”

Pence, who served together with Lewis for 6 terms in Congress, identified as him “a colleague and a friend” whose “selflessness and conviction rendered our nation into a more excellent union.”

“Even when we differed, John was normally unfailingly sort,” Pence wrote.

Clarence Henderson, a member of Trump’s “Black Voices for Trump” marketing campaign arm, mentioned Lewis “dedicated his lifestyle and occupation to bettering our nation.”

“We will endlessly be grateful for the legacy he leaves as we pray for him and his loved ones,” Henderson said on behalf of the Trump marketing campaign.

White Dwelling Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany also offered tributes.

“He leaves an enduring legacy that will by no means be overlooked,” she tweeted.

But some in Lewis’ circle were being not moved by White Property phrases.

“Please enable us mourn in peace,” Rep. Karen Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, tweeted Saturday morning in a message directed at Trump.

“While the nation mourns the passing of a countrywide hero, please say nothing at all,” Bass pleaded.

Funeral preparations for Lewis have however been declared, but Fox News claimed that the commonly admired congressman’s body is very likely to lie in condition at the U.S. Capitol in the coming days — an honor that has been extended to only 36 American citizens in the nation’s history.