"We have come a distance. We made progress. But there are forces in America trying to slow us down or take us back," Lewis told David Axelrod on a special televised edition of "The Axe Files," airing Friday at 10 p.m. ET on CNN.

One of those forces, Lewis suggested, is the President of the United States.

"I think the person we have in Washington today is uncaring," Lewis said, adding that he believes President Donald Trump "knows very, very little about the struggle and the history of the Civil Rights Movement."

Lewis indicated to Axelrod that he didn't see Trump as fully appreciative of the "countless individuals" who "gave everything they had" in pursuit of equal rights.

"Black and white people died, they gave their lives," Lewis said, referencing some of those murdered during the Civil Rights Movement.

Lewis said that he still does not believe that Trump is the legitimate commander-in-chief.

"I truly believe to this day that this election was rigged in his favor," he said.

"I know his record, I know his history, he has a very long history of being on the other side and not on the right side," Lewis told Axelrod, adding that he believes the Department of Justice "has withdrawn from the participation in the process of looking out for people."

"That is a form of intimidation. That's a form of harassment," Lewis told Axelrod.

"Some of the people that make up this commission have a history, a long history, of making it harder and difficult for people to participate in the democratic process," Lewis said without specifying which people in the commission to whom he was referring. "We've come too far. This President should be leading us into the future, not taking us backwards."

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