• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 15, 2017

According to President Elect Donald Trump, Atlanta is in "horrible shape" and is "crime infested." Those were the words spoken by the future president in a couple of tweets here and here directed at Georgia Representative John Lewis Saturday morning. Trump's comments were, of course, in response to negative words spoken about him by Lewis who said Trump's presidency is illegitimate and that he would not participate in the inauguration.

Reportedly, Lewis said, “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.”

In the tweets on Saturday, Trump wrote, “Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

While it's no surprise that, according to Trump, everything on the planet sucks, several Atlanta business leaders quickly came to the defense of the city.

One business leader, B.A. Albert, president of the city's Dalton Agency, said, “Atlanta is coming into its prime right now. It’s so much stronger than anywhere in the south. It’s just a great place to be a business owner. Atlanta is especially welcoming to women entrepreneurs.”

Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said, “Clearly the President-elect’s tweet doesn’t do justice to all the strengths of the district. Like much of America it has issues that need to be addressed, but when you look at it in totality [Trump’s statement] factually is not true. Tweeting may have been beneficial in winning the presidential election. It is yet to be seen whether it will benefit the American people when the President-elect governs.”

Can't wait to hear what Trump has to say about Cannes come June.