A friend of Elijah Cummings appeared to refuse a handshake from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during a memorial service for the late congressman on Thursday, Newsweek reports.
Cummings, who represented Maryland's 7th Congressional District for over 20 years, became the first African-American legislator to lie in state at the Capitol this week. At a memorial service on Thursday, where McConnell was one of the many legislators who eulogized the congressman, a friend of Cummings' who is listed as a pallbearer for his funeral on Friday appeared to skip McConnell when walking down a line of guests and shaking the hands of multiple lawmakers.
"He knew there was only one reason why a son of sharecroppers, a child who literally had to bear the injuries of bigotry and segregation, could graduate from law school and eventually chair a powerful committee in Congress," McConnell said in his remarks on Thursday. "Only one reason, because principled leaders had fought to give kids like him a chance.
He added, "Chairman Cummings made it his life's work to continue that effort. He climbed the ranks here in the Capitol, not because he outgrew his hometown but because he was so committed to it."
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