Tipsheet

The Rumor Mill Was Wrong About the Death of John Lewis

Rumors swirled on Twitter Thursday night about the passing of Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). The congressman's chief of staff, Michael Collins, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the rumors were false, that Lewis is fine.

“It’s only rumors,” Collins told The AJC. “He is resting comfortably at home.”

Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC), however, had taken to Twitter to memorialize Lewis. 

"Words cannot do John Lewis Justice because everything he did was in the service of Justice," Adams said in a now-deleted tweet, The Daily Wire reported. "He gave everything – including his blood and his body – to the Movement. It was an honor to make ‘good trouble’ with John in the House, and I will miss both my friend and the man himself.”

Once it was confirmed that Lewis is still alive, Adams deleted her tribute tweet and issued an apology.

The rumor caused quite the stir with figures on the left.

It's unclear how the rumors started, but HBCUBuzz, a blog focused on historically black colleges and universities, and Adams had both shared the rumor that Lewis was dead. HBCUBuzz went back and deleted their article and tweets.

The 80-year-old has been voting by proxy since he's at home battling advanced-stage pancreatic cancer.