Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio mistakenly included a photo of former Rep. Elijah Cummings in a Twitter post memorializing the passing of Democratic Georgia Rep. John Lewis.
The post featured a photo of Rubio shaking hands with Cummings, a photo that was briefly made Rubio’s profile picture. Both mistakes were quickly rectified.
Media outlets and politicians have repeatedly mistaken Cummings–who died in October 2019–for Lewis, who passed away on Friday.
Sen. Marco Rubio mistakenly posts a picture of Elijah Cummings in a post honoring John Lewis. (Screenshot/Twitter/Sahil Kapur)
This tweet has been deleted. The senator also made it his profile photo. (That’s Elijah Cummings, not John Lewis.) pic.twitter.com/ygvPCUs6su
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 18, 2020
“It was an honor to know and be blessed with the opportunity to serve in Congress with John Lewis, a genuine and historic American hero,” Rubio’s tweet read originally. “May the Lord grant him eternal peace.”
Rubio addressed the mistake soon afterward and included a more fitting video of him with Lewis. (RELATED: ‘CBS Evening News’ Airs Picture Of Elijah Cummings During Segment About Rep. John Lewis’s Battle With Cancer)
Earlier today I tweeted an incorrect photo
John Lewis was a genuine American hero
I was honored to appear together in Miami 3 years ago at an event captured in video below
My God grant him eternal resthttps://t.co/aEm4MxKxBP pic.twitter.com/0UpWSG3vNQ
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 18, 2020
“Earlier today I tweeted an incorrect photo,” Rubio wrote. “John Lewis was a genuine American hero. I was honored to appear together in Miami 3 years ago at an event captured in video below. My[sic] God grant him eternal rest.”
For his part, Lewis took being repeatedly mistaken for Cummings in stride during his life. He even published a press release in April 2019 announcing his intention to grow a beard to make it easier to tell the two apart.
“Just this weekend, I went to church in Maryland. Someone came up to me and said, ‘Hi, Mr. Cummings! I vote for you all the time,’’’ Lewis said at the time. “I just said thank you. What else could I say? That’s when I decided, I should just grow a beard.”
“I considered getting a tattoo on the back of my head, just to clear things up. I tried to convince Elijah to get one too, but that didn’t go over so well,” he added.